


Reversal

by tvfanatic97



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Anxiety Attacks, Bisexual MJ, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Lesbian Liz, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-06-17 10:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15459582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tvfanatic97/pseuds/tvfanatic97
Summary: Peter is not obsessed with MJ, he's just very observant which is why he notices how she starts behaving strangely after she gets into an accident during the school trip to Oscorp.-Or: MJ is the one bitten by the radioactive spider instead of Peter.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Spider-Woman Origins](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13979085) by [9VaniaStein9](https://archiveofourown.org/users/9VaniaStein9/pseuds/9VaniaStein9). 



Peter and Ned had immediately hit it off on the first day of Elementary School when they bonded over Peter’s Iron Man-themed backpack. 

From then on their friendship blossomed on the basis of their shared love of not necessarily just the superhero/public figure but just the general idea of people with extraordinary abilities using them to help people like in all the media they consumed, along with a shared general love of comic books, sci-fi and all things nerdy just like them. 

Over time they also adopted the weird, really smart girl who sat in the back corner of the classroom and never spoke to anyone, Michelle- or as she became to them 2 years later once they’d earned her trust and friendship, 'MJ'- to become the infamous trio. 

The trio were the outcasts at their schools, often teased and bullied for their bizarre interests and intellect and the other kids could be so cruel sometimes but that didn’t matter to them as their friendship only continued to grow. A staple of their friendship was putting together all their packed lunches to have picnics together during every lunchtime at school along with Friday night movie nights followed by sleepovers at one of their houses then hanging out and doing homework together the following Saturday. 

They spent almost everyday of the week together and never got tired of each other all the way through Elementary and Middle School and Peter had become accustomed to his two best friends being such a huge and important part of his life. 

Which is why it was so startling when a few months after they started high school at Midtown School of Science and Technology, MJ suddenly became distant and started spending less and less time with them.

 

* * *

 

It’d all started after their school trip to Oscorp. 

Peter remembers how the trio had veered away from the rest of their classmates, instead choosing to go and explore the company laboratories by themselves in hopes that they'd see the really cool, secret projects. 

MJ had always been extra inquisitive and curious compared to the other two and so Peter hadn’t been surprised when they lost her as they were looking around one of the closed off labs. Peter was however, surprised when they heard MJ screaming from the far corner of large lab, her exact location obscured by all the shelves of equipment and material and work benches of the lab. 

By the time Peter and Ned had run towards her, she was surrounded by Oscorp security and in their panic and fright, Peter and Ned had run off to find Mr Watson their chaperone leaving MJ alone with ten security guards and a lab tech. 

When they came back MJ was being carried away by staff dressed in white lab coats along with a mob of security surrounding her whilst a company representative assured Mr Watson that MJ would be fine and they were just taking her to be looked over by a doctor. 

Peter hadn’t heard much of the guy’s explanation of what was happening, his ears ringing as he frantically tried to catch sight of MJ to see if she was okay. All he remembers after all the commotion was finished is that the trip ended then and there and all the students had been taken to Midtown and given the rest of the day off and told to go home.

Following the incident, MJ was away from school for nearly two weeks and anytime Peter and/or Ned tried to go and see her at her place, her parents politely turned the boys away reassuring them that she wasn’t well enough to hang out but would be soon enough even though it was clear to Peter that MJ had told her parents to turn them away.

When she did finally come back to school she became weirdly distant. She’d sit at the opposite end of the lunch table to them and that’s if she was even around at lunchtime, other times she’d hide out until it was time to go to class and in all of their shared classes she stopped sitting with either of them, instead regressing back to sitting in the back corner like she used to in Elementary School before she’d befriended the boys.

Outside of school, she started slowly dropping all her extracurriculars from Robotics Club to band that she was in with Peter and Ned and Peter had also discovered through thorough investigative work (read: snooping and asking around about her) that she’d dropped Debating Club, Model UN and Book Club which was especially surprising.

The only club she was still a part of was Academic Decathlon, although Peter suspected that she’d only remained in this club because of her crush on Liz. A crush that had been apparent from their very first day at Midtown when they met Liz as she tried to recruit the incoming freshmen to join Acadec, what with MJ's barely-concealed constant heart-eyes and her worshipping the ground Liz walked on. It was pretty obvious no matter how much MJ denied it or punched Ned’s arm whenever he would tease her about it. 

Even her overwhelming crush on Liz Allan was apparently not enough to stop MJ’s suspicious disappearances and absences, and soon enough she started gradually showing up to decathlon less and less or when she did show up she would either randomly have to leave part way through or if she did manage to stay the whole way through she’d be distracted- though she remained the smartest person in Acadec (and at Midtown) even when only half-paying attention.

 

* * *

 

The flakiness was uncharacteristic of MJ, as was her being so unfocused both in school and at Acadec, so much so that it was worrying both Peter and Ned. They had tried on multiple occasions to go and see her at her house but each time they turned up she was either not at home, her parents telling the boys she was at Model UN/Book Club/Debating Club each time they went looking for her which made them worry even more since it was clear she was now lying to her parents about her whereabouts. Or at other times when they went, there would just be no answer at the door even though it was clear someone- MJ- was at home. All their texts and calls to her went unread and/or ignored; Peter had left countless voicemails pleading for her to just at least reassure them she was okay and didn’t need help with whatever was happening with her- those had gone ignored as well. 

“Maybe she’s secretly seeing someone, like an older sexy college professor and she can’t tell anyone,” Ned says as they walk out of their Math class, one of the few classes they didn’t share with the person who was the topic of their conversation, heading to grab lunch.

“Dude, ew, that’d be pedophilic and MJ would never.” Peter couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his friend’s wild theories; Ned had been coming up with increasingly outrageous theories to explain their friend’s weird behaviour during the entire class.

“Well how else would you explain her behaviour?” Ned sighs as his his tone turns more serious, “I’m just really worried about her.” 

“Me too.” Peter responds dejectedly. As well as the voicemails and texts, every evening after school and after all his clubs Peter would stop by the Jones’ house hoping to catch MJ and speak to her. Most times no one would be at home, other times her parents would be there and given the frequency of his visits they had started to take pity on him and would let him in to wait for an hour or so to see if she would come back home. Whilst they waited they’d talk about everything but MJ, from how school was going, Peter’s college plans to how his aunt May was doing with everything that'd happened until eventually it became clear that MJ wasn’t coming home anytime soon and it was getting dark, then one of them would drive Peter home. 

“Oh, oh, what if she’s like a secret super-“ Ned is interrupted by Peter elbowing him as they walk past MJ on her end of the table to go to theirs. They’d tried to sit with her on her end on multiple occasions but it’d only led to her getting up and disappearing for the rest of lunch so they’d decided they’d stick to their end of the lunch table and maintain the 10-seat distance rather than have her disappear and not know her whereabouts altogether. 

The pair sit down and spread their lunch out to make a make-shift picnic like they always do, though it was not the same doing it with just two people's lunches, and they eat their food in silence. They each keep stealing glances towards MJ who for her part just keeps her head firmly buried in the book she is reading intently as she sips the herbal tea in her flask, pointedly ignoring them and their obvious stares. 

Part way through lunch when Ned and Peter are looking over at MJ they notice that she’s finally looked up from her book and put her flask down, completely transfixed on Liz across the cafeteria.

“Dude, your staring is bordering on creepy.” Ned cautiously teases. 

Ned’s words seem to bring MJ out of her trance, finally looking away from Liz. “Shut up loser,” MJ teases back. 

This was the most words the trio had exchanged in a while and so Ned gets prematurely excited and tries to keep their old teasing and bantering going, “Liz might need a restraining order soon.” 

MJ snorts at Ned’s words and is about to retort before she seems to catch herself, her expression that of someone disappointed in themselves like they were doing something they weren’t supposed to. She then swiftly grabs her bag, book and flask and practically runs out of the cafeteria. 

Peter gets up just as she's about to walk past him and goes to grab her arm to try and stop her, “MJ-“ he doesn't get the chance to carry on however as MJ brushes his hand off with a surprising amount of strength for her slight frame. In fact, Peter can't help but note how her arm felt more solid like it was more muscled but he doesn't  have time to consider this observation, too hurt by how MJ continues to distance herself from her best friends.

 

* * *

 

MJ became even more distant and weird, which Peter hadn’t thought possible, to the point where she didn’t show up to school for four days. 

When Peter had gone to her parents’ to check on her, they had informed him that she had gone on a trip to Europe with her new Stark Industries internship. 

MJ having an internship at Stark industries was news to Peter, although he supposed she’d only exchanged about ten words with him over the last few months so he had no way of knowing. 

Peter wasn’t buying it however, most companies didn’t offer 15-year-olds internships, though he supposed MJ was brilliant enough to be the exception, but even then no company would have a 15-year-old doing crazy hours and randomly taking them out of school so Peter wasn’t buying it but he still valued MJ’s friendship and didn’t want to get her in trouble with her parents so had instead just responded “Oh yeah, the internship of course. How could I forget?” and laughed nervously before leaving their house. 

Following this mysterious European trip, MJ started to disappear more and more and was barely showing up to decathlon under the guise of her so-called “internship”. Her disappearances had become so much of an issue that Liz decided that the next time MJ showed up to practice after school they would have a serious discussion as a team about how best to proceed. 

A couple of weeks went by and MJ never showed up and everyone had begun to think she was never coming back to Acadec until one random afternoon she just turns up. She doesn't bother to offer any explanation for her disappearance or even an apology. Instead, with just a month until Nationals, she announces that she is quitting decathlon and will not be going to Nationals. 

“MJ don’t do this,” Liz pleads to her which makes MJ pause in her actions as she is preparing to leave. “We need you at Nationals. You’re the smartest person on this team,” Liz pauses at at everyone’s protests at her declaration, “No offence guys.” She then turns back to MJ to continue their conversation, “MJ, you’re like the smartest person I know.” 

The last statement makes MJ look down, both embarrassed and flattered, and Peter can't help but think about how if MJ were white(r) the blood rushing to her face would have been visible to all. 

“I’m really sorry Liz,” MJ says as she gets up to leave with her eyes facing downwards, too afraid to look up at her team mates and Mr Harrington and see the disappointment that was sure to be on their faces. 

“MJ wait,” Liz gets up to follow her and rests a hand on her shoulder to slow her escape so they can exchange some words away from everyone. “Look I know how difficult juggling everything as a sophomore is but...“ they advance further away from the table where they were all sat meaning Peter couldn’t make out the rest of the conversation. 

Liz returns a couple of minutes later, defeated, before turning to address the team. “Well Flash, you’re our only hope now.” 

The whole team starts laughing at the prospect of Flash being their supposed saviour, lamenting about how doomed they are without MJ.

As the conversation carries on, Peter looks up towards MJ, eyes narrowed, as she hurriedly exits the room. 

The hurt and disappointment on Liz’s face is so clear and Peter doesn't think it's right that MJ is hurting people in her life that she wouldn’t normally hurt and so he gets a sense of determination to find out what's going on with her and finally get to the bottom of all this.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter had tried going to the Jones’ house multiple times both before and after school whenever he was free to see if he could corner MJ and find out what the hell was going on with her, but it seemed she was onto him and had told her parents they’d had a fight or something and she didn’t want to see him so they’d stopped letting him in to wait.

Clearly MJ was determined to keep whatever secret she was hiding which in turn only made Peter more determined to find out what that was so he could be there for her and support her if she needed; she may have been ignoring and blanking him- and Ned- for the past few months but she was his best friend damnit, and he wasn’t going to give up on nearly a decade of friendship so easily.

As tempting as it was to follow her around whenever she’d rush out of school or keep showing up at her house despite her parents telling him to wait for her to come to him in her own time, Peter knew she’d find this stalker-type behaviour frankly gross and it’d push her further away which was the opposite of what he wanted. He instead decided he’d simply keep an eye on her at school to see if he could pick up on any hints or clues.

Through his observations he’d managed to pick up that she was apparently now going to the gym as she completed all the state mandated fitness challenges Coach Wilson made them do with ease whilst simultaneously reading her novel of the week.

Perhaps she’d gotten really into fitness which was why she was never at home and had become stronger and more muscular? But this didn’t explain her behaviour and her sudden, random disappearances and additionally, on the occasions that Peter had happened to pass by all the gyms within a walk-able distance to her house, a complete coincidence  _of course_ , he’d never once seen her at any one of them.

“Hey, uh, have you noticed something different about MJ?” Peter asks Ned who is currently crouching at Peter's feet, holding them down whilst Peter does sit ups as they complete yet another Captain America fitness challenge. The fact that they had completed the same fitness challenge in gym class for the past 6-weeks, coupled with Coach Wilson's general apathy at making sure students actually completed the challenge, was indicative of the lack of importance placed on sport at their Science and Tech-oriented high school.

“Like her not talking to us, being all weird and mysterious and abandoning all her clubs including Acadec even though she is in love with our team captain?”

“Yeah, I mean, well- that’s weird but I mean something different about her, like um-  _physically_?” Peter's cheeks immediately start to redden as his pitch gets higher in embarrassment; he’d just ousted himself as a stalker and pervert apparently.

“Dude, what?” Ned moves from Peter’s feet, instead coming to sit by his head where he is laying on the mat to look him in the eye and gage where this conversation was going.

“Nothing. Forget it. Forget I said anything. Let’s just keep doing the challenge.”

“Nope we’re finishing this conversation; what did you mean?” Ned wasn’t going to save Peter the embarrassment by changing subject.

“Okay I don’t wanna sound creepy-“

“Too late,” Ned interrupts.

“Can we just forget I said anything?” Peter says, desperately trying to move on.

“Nah, I’m enjoying how embarrassed you are.”

Peter sighs accepting defeat, “She’s just- just like not so lanky anymore. You know?”

“We’re going through puberty dude, of course our bodies are changing. I mean you’re not so pathetic looking any-“

Peter interrupts Ned before he can go on, “Just forget it.”

“Look man, I get that you miss MJ, I miss her too. But watching her and stalking her is not the answer“ Ned gives Peter a pointed look when he opens his mouth to protest the stalking comment before continuing on, “Just give her time, clearly whatever she’s going through she wants to do so alone. If she needs us she’ll eventually come to us, you just gotta be patient.” Ned then moves back to hold Peter’s feet down so they can carry on with the challenge before Coach Wilson half-heartedly chastises them.

Peter sighs, returning to doing the last few sit ups. “Sure.”

He supposed Ned is right.

 

* * *

 

 

Despite the conversation with Ned, Peter can’t help but still worry about MJ and watch over her. MJ is obviously more than capable of looking after herself and she can probably handle whatever was happening with her but Peter can’t stop himself worrying about her and thinking about her constantly, though he doesn't know why.

Academic Decathlon National Championships were fast approaching and MJ continued to distance herself from everyone and act bizarrely.

They were having practice sessions at a greater frequency with Flash having taken MJ’s place on the team and everyone was getting used to not having MJ there, though occasionally Abe would make fun of Flash when he got something wrong or Liz would sigh exasperatedly at the argument that would inevitably break out, wishing MJ were still there.

Soon enough the time for Nationals came and the team were feeling a bit more prepared and marginally better about their chances.

Whilst they waited for the bus to take off the day before competition day, MJ approached them.

“Hey it’s MJ!” Ned exclaims as she runs towards them.

“MJ, hey!” Liz speaks excitedly as she all but shoves everyone else out of the way so she is first to approach her.

“Hey guys, I was hoping maybe I could re-join the team?” MJ asks, her voice unsure.

This angers Flash, who pushes past everyone to come and stand right in front on MJ. “No, no way. You can’t just quit on us, stroll up and be welcomed back by everyone”

“Hey, welcome back MJ!” Mr Harrington exclaims as he steps off the bus to come roundup the team. “Flash, you’re back to first alternate.”

“What?” The look of hurt that crosses Flash’s face makes Peter feel sympathetic to him.

“She’s taking your place!” Abe proclaims and everyone starts celebrating and teasing Flash.

“Let’s just get on the bus,” Peter interrupts everyone, offering a small sympathetic smile to Flash. As much as he hated him, he didn’t deserve to play second fiddle to his unreliable best friend as much as he missed her.

When they get onto the bus, Liz pulls MJ to sit with her at the front to talk. Whilst Peter can’t hear the words they are exchanging, he can see MJ’s leg bouncing, a nervous tick of hers, as Liz speaks to her before hugging her.

Peter quickly averts his gaze when MJ gets up and moves to sit just behind him and Ned but Liz gets up at the same time to start drills before he has the chance to turn around and try to speak to her.

 

* * *

 

 

Liz’s rapid-fire questioning over the duration of their drive had worn Peter out so much that after their team was registered and shown to their rooms, Peter immediately falls asleep and only wakes up a few hours later to Ned sneaking back into their room.

“Dude, where have you been?” Peter asks, rubbing the remaining sleep out of his eyes.

“Err...just getting us snacks,” Ned seems weirdly nervous, Peter notes.

“So where’s the food?” Peter asks looking pointedly at Ned's hands, the only thing he was holding was laptop. No food in sight.

There is a knock at their door which interrupts them before Ned has the chance to offer up an explanation.

“We’re going to the pool, c’mon guys.” Liz calls out from the other side of the door.

Ned hurriedly puts his laptop down and goes to change into swimming trunks and grab a towel. “C’mon Peter, everyone’s waiting.”

Peter decides to drop the fact that Ned was clearly lying about where he’d been and also gets changed to go down to the pool.

They are all headed down to the pool when they walk past MJ and Cindy’s room just as MJ is also leaving, though she is dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie with a backpack on her back, clearly not headed for a late-night dip like the rest of them.

“MJ, great timing. We’re gonna go swimming. C’mon, c’mon!” Liz is once again the first to approach MJ, whilst the rest of the team hang back slightly.

“I was, err, I was gonna go and study in the business centre” MJ responds, unconvincingly Peter might add.

“MJ you don’t need to study. You’re the smartest person I’ve ever met and besides, a rebellious group activity the day before competition is good for morale.”

MJ, along with the rest of the team who were still awkwardly stood there watching the exchange, look at Liz in puzzlement.

“Well, I read that in a TEDtalk so…” Liz nervously pushes some hair behind her ear “Uh, I mean, I  _heard_  it in a TEDtalk and I read a coaching book.” She giggles nervously.

MJ regards Liz, clearly impressed. “Wow, this is really important to you,” Peter notes how MJ sounds equal parts impressed and guilty; she is probably going to flake again.

“Yeah it’s our future…” The group, Peter included, finally decide to leave the two of them to finish their conversation after hanging around and listening in for a little too long meaning he misses the rest of their conversation beyond that.

Liz re-joins them a minute later and they head to the pool with MJ nowhere in sight meaning she’s disappeared.  _Again_.

 

* * *

 

 

MJ never shows up to the pool and she is also nowhere to be found when Cindy gets back to their room later that night, though everyone reasons that she is still probably down in the business centre studying and they would probably see her in the morning.

Come the morning of the competition, MJ is still nowhere to be found never having come back to the hotel room the previous night.

“MJ is nowhere to be found once again, surprise, surprise!” Flash exclaims sarcastically after Cindy confesses to the team that she has no idea where the other girl is.

“I’m sure she has something important to take care off and she’ll turn up at the last second and help us win nationals,” Ned defends their estranged best friend, much to Peter’s surprise. MJ had been ignoring and pushing both of them away equally over the last few months so Peter doesn't understand why Ned’s tune has suddenly changed with him now defending her and pleading with everyone to give her the benefit of the doubt when she’s let them all down so much in the past.

“Forget her guys, Flash how are you feeling about stepping up?” Liz interrupts the argument that has erupted amongst everyone following Ned’s defence of their missing friend.

“Yeah, I’m actually committed to Acadec and reliable unlike  _some_  people.” Flash says sneeringly the implication of his words clear, his eyes narrowed at Ned as he spoke.

 

* * *

 

 

True to his word, Flash had actually proven to be reliable and helped carry the team to victory, along with a last minute save from Peter himself that won them the National title.

In celebration of their win, the team goes sightseeing around DC which Peter enjoys, even temporarily forgetting about the fact that MJ is still nowhere to be found for a while.

The sight they are currently visiting is the Washington Monument and Peter had decided to sit this one out given his fear of heights, though he’d told everyone he was simply “tired” when they questioned him about his decision to stay at the bottom, to which Ned had given him a knowing look in amusement but Peter is currently ignoring Ned since he seems to know what's happening with MJ but won’t tell him- or the others.

He stays on the ground whilst everyone else goes up, instead digging out some homework he’d brought with him from his backpack to complete whilst he waits.

He is just finishing off a Math problem and flipping over to the next page to continue when he is interrupted by screams coming from the crowd surrounding the monument along with debris falling off its top.

As he gets up to see the origin of the commotion he nearly bumps into the red and blue-clad figure whom he’d seen in a few clips on the local news and on YouTube and who everyone had recently dubbed “Spider-Man”- what were they doing in DC of all places?

“Karen, what’s happening up there?” Spider-Man speaks to themselves, the voice that Peter hears being distinctly not-male; he isn’t sure why everyone had made the assumption that they were male- well actually, when he takes a quick second to consider why everyone had assumed someone with extraordinary abilities who was helping the people of New York would be male he quickly realises why. Society sucks.

Peter however doesn't have time to ponder on the identity of the masked superhero instead remembering that his friends had just gone up the monument. In a panic he turns to the Spider superhero and worriedly shouts, “My friends are up there!”

“What?” The hero exclaims and the eyes of their costume comically widen in a mechanical fashion to match the panic they exude in their voice. “Err don’t worry sir, everything is gonna be okay,” The superhero reassures Peter in an obviously fake deep voice, like they are trying to sound male, that sounds weirdly familiar to Peter.

Before Peter can say anything more to the superhero they run off, climbing up the monument to get to the top. Peter stands watching anxiously as the superhero climbs up the side of the monument as fast as they can, too worried about his friends and Flash to ponder on the bizarre familiarity of the superhero’s voice.

 

* * *

 

 

The Spider superhero had successfully rescued his friends and everyone who’d been up the monument as well before rapidly disappearing as news outlets and other journalists started to swarm the monument.

Peter is so relieved that they are all safe, quickly rushing to go and hug everyone including Ned whom Peter didn’t let go of even as they are ushered back to their hotel to collect their belongings and head back to New York.

The excitement of the past few hours meant everyone had forgotten about MJ’s disappearance until she just appears by the bus as they are getting ready to go back home.

“Are you guys okay?” MJ asks, looking over everyone with wide eyes, the worry in her voice apparent.

No one speaks, instead all just hugging her one by one then getting onto the bus with the exception of Peter who waits for everyone else to get on before turning to MJ. “Where were you?”

“Peter-“ MJ starts to speak but is interrupted by Mr Harrington’s unceremonious appearance.

“Guys let’s go c’mon. You can talk on the bus.” Mr Harrington instructs, shooing them to get onto the bus.

They never get the chance to talk on the bus, everyone is exhausted from the trauma of the day and immediately falls asleep once on the bus and Peter doesn't want to disturb the quiet and everyone trying to process everything that has happened to them today by starting an argument with MJ.

Everyone, with the exception of MJ and Liz who are sitting together at the back of the bus talking quietly, sleeps for the entirety of the journey back and when they get back to Midtown, everyone rushes out to meet their waiting parents and guardians.

Peter pushes through the commotion of everyone reuniting with their loved ones and finds MJ just as she approaches her waiting parents.

“Michelle, honey oh my God!” MJ’s mum says when she first lays eyes on her and runs towards her.

“I’m okay mum,” MJ speaks, her voice sounding hoarse and slightly deeper than usual from the stress of the day and vocal fatigue from hours of talking to Liz during their journey back from DC.

MJ clears her throat before speaking again to reassure her parents but Peter doesn't hear what she says to them, the weird familiarity he’d felt earlier at hearing the Spider superhero’s voice finally making sense.

MJ is “Spider-Man” or- Woman or whatever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a new chapter to celebrate Euphoria getting a series order!! Also since MJ is the one that's Spider-(Wo)Man in this fic the ship is called "Spideypete" as coined by scifidreamer. Hope you enjoy and as always, feedback (good or bad) is appreciated.  
> Find me @tvfanatic97-2 on tumblr and @tvfanatic97 on twitter.


	3. Chapter 3

 

Peter was still reeling from his discovery.

It made sense. MJ had started behaving abnormally and disappearing randomly around the same time chatter of “Spider-Man” increased amongst his peers at school and on social media. The nail in the coffin with that coincidence was MJ disappearing when they were in DC and the Spider superhero suddenly appearing all the way out in DC when they’d previously only been seen in New York.

Peter also did further research on appearances by the superhero to try and line them up with MJ’s disappearances and he found out about the superhero being spotted in Berlin around the same time that MJ was supposedly on a trip to Europe with her Stark internship. That coupled with the changes to her physical appearance he’d been noticing more and more in gym class and the matching voices would all be well explained by MJ being “Spider-Woman” as he’d decided to call her since it was more accurate.

The problem was that Peter didn’t know what to do with all this information.  He so desperately wanted to confront her about it all to confirm his suspicions but Peter had never been a confrontational person by nature and what would he even say to her? “Hi, MJ I know you’ve been acting weirdly because you secretly dress up in spandex and fight crime”- no that would be dumb, especially when he had no actual proof to back up his claims and MJ could just refute them then go back to ignoring him.

He instead decides he will observe her for a bit longer so he can gather evidence that he can then possibly confront MJ with. He needs to have evidence before confronting her because MJ had been the star of Midtown debate club for a reason and would probably argue that she couldn’t possibly be Spider-Woman so convincingly that she’d have Peter questioning himself.

 

* * *

 

Following the events in DC, “Spider-Man” becomes something of an icon amongst Midtown students with talk of the superhero filling the school halls. Everywhere Peter looks there were posters of MJ’s alter ego and there was constant chatter about the superhero- there was even talk of making “Spider-Man” the new school mascot.

Meanwhile, MJ continued to ditch school and all her other responsibilities constantly; she was barely ever in school now meaning Peter hardly ever saw her so he couldn’t have confronted her about her secret even if he wanted to or more accurately, had the courage to do so.

That all came to a screeching halt however following an incident on the Staten Island ferry. Peter isn’t too sure about the details of what went down, all he knows is that hundreds of ferry passengers had nearly died at the hands of some criminals before Iron Man himself had had to intervene and help Spider-Woman out.

Following the ferry accident, MJ slowly starts showing up to school more and more and picking up all her extra curriculars again- well, all with the exception of band where she’d already been replaced and she never re-joins Robotics but she was only ever part of the club because of Peter and Ned and not because she had genuine interest in robotics. Most importantly, she starts coming to decathlon practice consistently once more.

Peter doesn’t quite understand how after all the long stretches of time where MJ would just not show up and MJ disappearing at the biggest competition the team had ever taken part in, MJ was just allowed back onto the team like nothing had ever happened.

That is until he accidentally stumbles upon MJ and Liz in the hall during class on his way back from the bathroom. He knows he should carry on back to class and just mind his own business but his curiosity overcomes him and instead he finds himself crouching behind a row of lockers a safe distance away from them, eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Look Liz I-uh, I just wanted to apologise about the whole decathlon thing,” he hears MJ say nervously, looking down at the floor rather than at Liz.

“MJ it’s fine. Last week decathlon was the most important thing but then I almost died,” Liz is looking right at MJ as she speaks even though MJ for her part refuses to meet Liz’s eyes.

The reminder of the traumatic events of DC finally cause MJ to look up at Liz before she speaks, “No, no I, I just mean that…” MJ stutters nervously before taking a breath to calm herself. The headstrong and self-assured MJ that Peter knows- or knew- was drastically different to the flustered and bumbling mess he now saw before him barely able to form a full sentence.

After a short pause in which MJ unsuccessfully tries to compose herself she then carries on, “I just meant that uh, it was not cool. Especially because I- _I like you_.”

Peter pauses at that, he knows that he really needs to stop listening in on their conversation and go back to class since he’d already been out of class at the bathroom for too long but his class was on the opposite end of the hall and he’d have to walk past them to get there, thereby alerting them to the fact that he’d been listening in on them this whole time. Alternatively, he could turn around and go back to the bathroom then wait there until they were done which would be less embarrassing than walking past them right now. Despite having come up with a plan, Peter finds that he can’t move to go back to the bathroom, his body refusing to move from where he is crouched down for some reason so he just stays there and carries on listening to them.

He’d clearly missed part of their conversation whilst he considered his options or more accurately, panicked about what to do, because the next thing he hears is MJ asking if Liz wants to go to homecoming with her.

“Yeah sure,” Liz replies much to Peter’s, and based on the shocked expression he can just about make out on MJ's face, to MJ's surprise. That explained why Liz had been so forgiving of MJ and allowed her back onto the decathlon team even after the events of DC.

“Really?” MJ asks wanting to double check she’d heard the other girl right. “I mean uh- cool,” MJ straightens up, feigning confidence.

“Cool,” Liz watches the other girl with a wide grin on her face.

“I’m actually going that way,” MJ says pointing towards where Peter is hidden.

Peter takes this as his cue to finally get moving, mortified at the thought of MJ finding him crouched behind some lockers, neck craning to listen in on her conversation with her long-time crush.

He thus runs back to the boys’ bathroom, unsure how to feel about what he’d just witnessed.

 

* * *

 

Homecoming night comes and Peter goes with Ned after making amends. 

Peter had previously been mad at Ned for keeping MJ’s secret from him but then he realised one of the reasons he loved Ned was how loyal he was and how he could trust him with just about anything. Peter thus didn’t think it was fair of him to be mad at Ned for displaying those exact same qualities to his other best friend, MJ, when she’d trusted him with her secret Peter had reasoned to himself. It hurt Peter that MJ apparently felt like she couldn’t trust him as well with her secret, but that was down to his own insecurities about what that meant about his relationship with MJ and not Ned’s fault so he’d gone to apologise to him then they’d built yet another Lego Death Star model like nothing happened and they’d subsequently made plans for Homecoming.

Now Peter finds himself sipping on some fruit punch as he awkwardly dances with Ned and the rest of their decathlon friends, trying to forget about the MJ situation so he could try to have a good time at least just for the night.

“You good dude?” Ned asks, bringing Peter out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m…“ the rest of Peter’s words die down in his throat when he catches sight of MJ and Liz walking in hand in hand.

They make quite the pair in matching black suits; Liz’s suit being one that's made of velvet that she’s paired with a black shirt with the top three buttons undone underneath whilst MJ wears a more traditional suit material wise paired with a white shirt, though her suit jacket had a multi-coloured lapel. Their outfits are completed by matching red corsages that adorn both of their wrists.

Whilst Liz has a full face of makeup with her hair worn down, MJ by contrast looks like her usual self with no makeup and her hair in its usual messy ponytail. Considering that MJ is the date of the most popular girl in school, one would’ve expected her to undergo a makeover of sorts and walk in completely transformed but despite the unfamiliar social situation and having her crush’s hand in hers she still remains very much his- his an in _his best friend_ that is- MJ; this thought makes Peter smile.

“They look cute,” Ned comments, leaning towards Peter to whisper it to him. Peter is unsure why Ned feels the need to whisper considering everyone in the gym has stopped talking and dancing, all their attention turned to the pair.

“Sure,” Peter replies, speaking around a lump that has inexplicably formed around his throat. He clears his throat to snap out of whatever that was when he sees Liz walking towards the decathlon group whilst MJ trails behind her.

“Hey guys,” Liz greets cheerily.

“You came with MJ?” Cindy asks, surprised by this development.

“Yeah we’re gal pals now,” Liz replies with amusement lacing her words.

Everyone is laughing at Liz’s words when MJ approaches the group to grab Liz’s attention.

“Liz-“ MJ starts to speak but is interrupted by Liz pressing her lips against hers in a brief peck.

“Sorry, I’ve just really wanted to do that since I first saw you tonight,” Liz says as she pulls away to look at MJ.

MJ stands there with her eyes closed for a second, revelling in the kiss for a moment before she slowly opens her eyes again with a look of guilt marring her features. Peter can already guess what's coming before MJ even opens her mouth to speak, “Liz I’m so sorry, I’ve gotta go.”

“What do you mean ‘you have to go,? What could possibly be-“ Liz is equally shocked as she is hurt but she doesn't get to finish her question as the other girl is already running towards the exit.

“I’m so sorry!” MJ shouts back as she runs out.

Peter watches Liz for a second seeing how hurt she is by MJ abandoning her in front of most of the school. Of all the random running out and abandoning her friends and responsibilities that MJ has done over the last few months this had to be the absolute worst in Peter’s eyes. He figures that some important Spider-Woman business had come up to get MJ to run out on Liz who she’d been in love with since they started high school but that didn’t take away Liz’s pain and embarrassment in this moment and Liz certainly didn’t know MJ's reasons for leaving.

Peter turns to talk to Ned about the situation but finds that he has also mysteriously disappeared during the commotion of MJ running out.

Peter looks around to see that his other decathlon friends have gone to mingle whilst Liz has gone off with her other senior friends, leaving Peter all alone. He takes a sip of his fruit punch that he'd forgotten about and sighs at his predicament before moving to sit at one of the tables that’d been set up, alone.

 

* * *

 

News about Liz’s dad and his criminal enterprise breaks the morning after homecoming when Spider-Woman or “Spider-Man” as the media were insistently referring to the superhero as, had stopped him.

That, and the fight Spider-Woman had with some criminal in the school parking lot during homecoming, is all everyone in school is talking about as he walks through the halls to get to his locker. Between this and the DC save Peter is becoming increasingly convinced that “Spider-Man” may actually become the school’s mascot given how beloved they are.

As he is opening his locker and swapping out the books he’ll need for next period he sees MJ approaching Liz a few feet away from him, meaning once again he’s unwittingly found himself listening in on one of their conversations.

MJ waits for some of Liz’s friends along with Liz’s mom to give them some space before she starts talking, “Hey Liz, I’m so sorry.”

“You say that a lot, what are you sorry for this time?” Liz says as she wipes away a stray tear. “The dance? That was a pretty crappy thing to do.”

MJ looked guilty at the mention of the dance. “Well yeah but um- your dad, I can’t imagine what you’re going through. If there is anything I can do to help…”

“I guess we’re moving to Oregon. Mom says it’s nice there so that’s…cool? Anyways dad doesn’t want us here during the trial so…“

MJ steps closer to Liz so they are stood shoulder to shoulder, their hands lightly grazing but without actually holding each other’s hands. “Liz I, I-uh,” Peter can hear MJ struggling to find the right words to say to her.

“Bye MJ. Whatever’s going on with you, I hope-“

Peter misses the rest of the conversation, his eavesdropping interrupted by a weirdly giddy Ned appearing in front of him.

“Dude-“ Ned starts but is interrupted by some random student high fiving him.

“My man!” The random guy exclaims before carrying on, walking away from them.

“What was that?” Peter is confused when he notices that it's just the random guy from before, literally everyone that walks past them either smiles or nods their head at Ned in apparent admiration.

“Oh nothing…” Ned says unconvincingly.

“Sure,” Peter replies with his eyes narrowed at Ned to make it clear that he knows that he is hiding something but isn’t going to press him to find out more information.

“So I was thinking, I’ve made up with MJ and I think I have a plan to get you two to be friends again,” Ned says excitedly, rubbing his hands like he has some sort of diabolical plan in mind.

“I’m listening,” Peter closes his locker door then turns to walk to first period with Ned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay phew!! sorry about the extended 3-chapter prologue...it was all an excuse to write MJ and Liz being homecoming dates in suits lol but now we're done with the film re-write stuff and it'll be original dialogue solely from chapter 4 onward.  
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this and feedback is always appreciated x
> 
> Find me @tvfanatic97-2 on tumblr and @tvfanatic97 on twitter


	4. Chapter 4

Ned’s plan wasn’t really all that diabolical- well actually, it was quite diabolical for Ned given how pure and honest he is by nature. Essentially, his plan was to convince MJ to come to his place to discuss “stuff”; when Peter had enquired about what he meant by “stuff” he’d been told not to question it and just go along with it so he dropped it even though he knew that it was in reference to Spider-Woman shenanigans but neither MJ nor Ned knew that he knew about it.

Anyway, the rest of the plan consisted of Peter hiding out at Ned’s then once MJ came, Ned would trap MJ into hanging out with them so they could go back to being the awesome trio again.

This is how Peter finds himself sitting alone in Ned’s room, mindlessly scrolling through his Instagram feed as he waits for MJ to arrive and for Ned to bring MJ to the bedroom.

A few minutes later Peter hears muttered words exchanged on the other side of the door so he gets up to lean against the door to listen in on them. He has acquired a terrible eavesdropping habit, especially where MJ is involved, apparently.

“Ned, you know that I can’t tell him,” MJ whispers to Ned, the anger in her voice clear even from the other side of the door where Peter is listening in.

“I still don’t agree with that by the way, but I’m not saying that you have to. You can’t just keep ignoring him and pushing him away. It’s hurting him and he really needs his friend after everything that’s happened,” Ned replies- Ned is terrible at whispering meaning Peter doesn't even really have to strain to hear him.

“He still has you,” MJ tries to argue.

“It’s  _different_  and you know that. He really misses you, you know.” Peter’s cheeks start to redden at hearing Ned’s words.

After a pause in which no one says anything MJ finally huffs out a, “Fine.”

Peter barely has enough time to scramble away from the door as he hears them approaching the bedroom.

He’s only just managed to sit on the desk chair, feigning a casual air so it doesn't look like he’d just been listening in on their conversation with his ear pressed against the door as he turns to speak to the pair, “He-hey guys.”

“Sup loser,” MJ greets coolly.

They all just stay there for a silent, very awkward two minutes or so as no one says anything each waiting for the other to speak first before Ned decides to put them all out of their misery. “Look Peter, MJ is really sorry she’s been so weird and distant the past few months it was because of…” Ned pauses, clearly thinking of an excuse. “Family stuff? Anyway, she’s really sorry and would really like to be your friend again. If you'll forgive her.”

Peter eyes the pair suspiciously considering whether to confront MJ about her secret right here right now or not but at the sight of Ned’s wide, hope-filled eyes darting between the two of them anxiously, Peter decides to drop it for now. There is obviously a reason that MJ hasn’t told him but he is going to do his best to re-earn her trust so she will come to him willingly and confide in him with time. Plus, he’s really missed MJ- and Ned, obviously, he's missed their trio as a whole- he’s really missed his two best friends and their nerdy weekends together that he just decides to let it go and start afresh in hopes that MJ will tell him her secret eventually.

Peter gets up from where he was sat and goes and envelopes the pair in a group hug.

“Ew, you know I hate physical contact Parker,” MJ says in disgust but this just prompts Peter to bring her in closer and squeeze her even tighter.

He is so happy to have MJ back.

 

* * *

 

 

Things go back to a relative normal after that. Well as normal as they can be with MJ secretly masquerading as a superhero at night with Ned’s help whilst Peter is kept out of the loop.

MJ has picked up all her extra curriculars and is actually showing a true commitment to them and school in general again. She is generally never tardy with Academic Decathlon anymore, especially since Peter’s appointment as the new captain after Liz moved away.

They go back to sitting together at lunch, once again sharing their lunches to make a mini-picnic. At the weekend they resume their Friday Night movie marathons and as a condition of Peter forgiving MJ for being weird, their marathon nights had to consist of just Star Wars for the first six weeks, much to MJ’s dismay. They now also hang out on Saturdays once again, their days spent doing homework or going out and exploring New York and its (free or relatively cheap given that they're unemployed fifteen year olds) sights.

One of the main differences since they made up is that because of MJ’s alter ego occasionally their time is interrupted whenever crime that has to be stopped crops up, which usually comes up in the form text alerts to either Ned’s or MJ’s phones which Ned normally responds to by not-so-subtly eyeing MJ who normally then in turn comes up with a shitty excuse to leave or other times when they want to switch it up to stop Peter becoming suspicious (ha!) Ned will be the one to make an excuse though MJ is much better at lying on the spot and has an inscrutable poker face. Unlike Ned who telegraphs his lie so clearly in his expression and his body language.

The other difference is a bit of a weirder one, and it's that Peter has started to see MJ in a new light and has started to notice all these little things about MJ that he had never really noticed before- or had noticed but didn't spend as much time as he does now making note of and subsequently thinking about constantly. He isn’t sure if it's the Spider-Woman thing or that after a period of not spending time with her he's now paying more attention to her so he doesn't take their time together for granted. He notices things like the smattering of freckles on her cheeks that one can only really see when looking closely, he’d first noticed them whilst they were contorted in strange positions whilst playing Twister on a rainy Saturday afternoon, the realisation flooring him so much that he lost his balance and took everyone down with him when he fell. One of the other things he’s noticed is how the colour of her eyes changes depending on the light, ranging from a dark brown to a hazel colour in the sunlight. If MJ notices him constantly staring at her, she never comments on it luckily for him.

Peter reasons with himself that he's only noticing these things now because he's always looking to see if she's okay, seeing if she has any Spider-Woman related injuries on her and that is why he's started noticing all these little things about her. Just a friend concerned about another friend’s well-being and nothing more. Sure.

Other than that, things are now pretty normal.

Normal is the trio sitting together in the cafeteria having finished their picnic, with Peter and Ned geeking out over some new Netflix sci-fi show whilst MJ reads a new novel, tuning them out.

“So the trial 6-week period is up now MJ,” Peter starts as he turns to face MJ who is currently sat beside him. It has not even been six weeks but he finds that he doesn't want to keep this whole punishing MJ think up anymore for some reason. “Meaning you finally get to choose what we’re watching for marathon Friday.”

“Oh yeah I forgot to tell you guys, I have to go to a family thing so I can’t hang out this weekend. We’re going out of state and I won’t be back till Sunday,” Ned says apologetically.

“Oh.” Peter pauses, the sudden thought of hanging out alone with MJ excites and terrifies him since they haven’t done so since before the whole Spider-Woman and distancing herself from her friends thing. “We can postpone the hangout for next weekend it’s cool,” Peter isn’t sure he's ready to be alone with MJ without Ned serving as the buffer there.

“Why? I’m free this weekend,” MJ says as she finally looks up from her novel. “And you said I get to choose what we marathon, don’t try and back out now coward.”

Peter laughs nervously, “Damnit, fine.” Peter decides to pretend his problem with their weekend plans going ahead are entirely related to her getting to choose and nothing else.

“I was thinking we should do…” MJ pauses, looking straight into Peter’s eyes to gage his reaction before continuing “-a horror movie marathon.”

At this Peter’s eyes widen, they haven’t hung out with MJ for some months but there's just no way she’s forgotten how much Peter hates horror films, she had to be messing with him.

“Why horror?” Peter asks nervously.

“It’d be really funny to watch you shit your pants at the scary parts,” MJ replies, humour lacing her words.

“That’s not funny, that’s just mean,” Peter huffs.

“I’m just teasing,” MJ rolls her eyes at how gullible Peter still is. “We can choose something on the day, I’m not fussed.”

Peter lets out a breath he hadn't realised he’d been holding at that and is just about to say how relieved he is that she was joking but the bell chooses that exact moment to ring, signalling the end of their lunch period.

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the week filled with classes, band practice for Peter, book club for MJ and decathlon practice for both practically flies by until it's suddenly the end of the day on Friday and time for their movie marathon Friday.

Peter is freaking out at the thought of spending time alone with MJ. “What if it’s awkward?” He asks Ned who is walking by his side down the hall towards the school entrance.

“What if what is awkward?” MJ asks, seemingly appearing out of thin air as she automatically starts walking in step with them on Peter’s other side.

“Nothing,” Peter rushes out quickly dismissively. “May is still at work so we have to get the subway back to mine, is that okay?”

MJ simply nods as they finally get out of the school building.

“Well have fun guys! Eat lots of M&Ms in memory of me,” Ned says as he turns to hug them both in turn.

“It's not like you're dying,” MJ rolls her eyes at his dramatic words as she wraps her arms around him. MJ is decidedly not a hug person or an any-type-of-physical-contact person at all really, but she makes an exception for Ned and Ned alone.

“I might as well be,” Ned sighs dejectedly. “The only company I’m gonna have this weekend is my older adult relatives then all my cousins the oldest of whom is 9. All my cooler, older cousins are at college and aren’t coming to this family event,” Ned sulks.

“You’ll be fine dude, you can text me anytime when you’re bored and just think of all the food that’ll be there,” Peter says with a hand on Ned's shoulder in an attempt to comfort his friend.

“True, I guess,” Ned says shrugging. “See you guys on Monday!” He runs off to his parents who are waiting in the car.

Both Peter and MJ wave to them before they turn to start making their way to the subway station.

 

* * *

 

 

The entire journey back to Peter’s had been silent but not in an awkward way, more so in a comfortable type of way like they didn’t need to fill the silence.

Things did however get awkward once they got back to the apartment both settling onto the couch beside each other. Normally Peter and Ned would sit together on the larger couch whilst MJ would take the armchair in the corner but today with Ned absent, MJ had perched on the couch next to Peter which made him nervous hence why things were awkward.

Peter becomes aware of how close they are sitting but instead chooses to ignore it, “So what are we marathoning today?”

“I don’t know, I don’t care. You can choose whatever you want to watch as long as it’s not Star Wars for the thousandth time,” she narrows her eyes at him at the last part.

“I think you actually secretly love Star Wars." She scoffs at the suggestion but he chooses to ignore her. "How about we just watch old 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' episodes for now then we can decide on something else to watch later?”

“Sounds good,” MJ says settling into a more comfortable position- a position which brings her slightly closer to Peter much to his shock and delight. He ignores how nervous he's feeling about their proximity instead focusing on pressing play so they can start their marathon.

Part way through their third episode when it becomes clear that Peter is mainly just watching MJ rather than the antics of the 99th precinct MJ turns to him, “What?” she all but snaps.

“Uh…” Peter fumbles at having been caught red-handed. “I was just wondering how you’ve been after Liz and everything. We’ve never really spoken about it- well, I’ve never really asked you about it which I suppose makes me kind of a bad friend so I thought I should just bring it up and check in on you and-“

Peter’s rambling is mercifully interrupted by MJ. “Peter stop. You’re not a bad friend at all.” MJ then pauses, looking down at her lap instead of directly at Peter to say her next words, “If anything I’m the bad friend, we haven't properly talked about-”

At this Peter clears his throat, interrupting her before she can go on. “Don’t, it’s fine.” He looks to her to assure her they don't need to go there. After he's certain he's communicated his message clearly he speaks again, “Don’t try and change the subject from Liz,” he teases, his tone turning lighter again.

“The Liz thing was…” MJ looks up from her lap now facing him directly again, her eye contact is unwavering as she keeps her eyes firmly on him which makes him nervously look down at his own lap. “I really liked her and it sucks that just as we were getting to know each other, on the precipice of something or whatever, she had to go you know?”

“Yeah, that sucks,” Peter replies, feeling an inexplicable pang of hurt.

Peter finally looks up at MJ. “I didn’t even get to ask her to be my girlfriend first,” MJ says with a small pout on her face.

“At least you got to kiss her or well- she kissed you, before she went away at least,” Peter teases which causes MJ to laugh as intended and at the sight of her laughing Peter can't help but laugh along with her.

They laugh for a few minutes before it naturally dies down then they are once again sat in silence with the only sound being from the television in the background.

MJ has turned back to continue watching the show when Peter speaks up again, “But you’re okay and everything, right?”

“Yeah,” MJ replies as she turns away from the TV and back to face him. “Yeah I’m okay. If I’m being honest with myself, I think I liked the idea of Liz more than anything- she was this super popular, super pretty lesbian girl next door type you know, but I never really got to know her properly for who she was so I kinda liked what I saw from a distance and who I thought she was rather than who she actually was, you know?”

“Yeah,” Peter breathes out.

“That was heavy, I don’t know why I’m unloading all this onto you,” MJ says, laughing nervously at how much she’d just opened up, her eyes once again move to look down at her lap rather than at Peter in embarrassment.

Peter, feeling brave, reaches across the small gap between them and places a hand on top of hers. “It’s okay, that’s what friends are for” he says to her, dipping his head to try and catch her eyes.

MJ looks up at him and for a few seconds they just stare at each other, the air heated.

Peter gulps and goes to speak, suddenly having plucked up a bit more courage “MJ, I know-“ but he's interrupted by her phone buzzing.

MJ immediately pulls her hand away from under his to look at her phone then her whole demeanour transforms as she turns back to him with a guilty look in her eyes mingled with a hint of excitement at going out as her alter ego which Peter has come to recognise and know all too well.

“I’m really sorry, that was my parents I really need to go,” MJ says apologetically already starting to get up from the couch.

“Yeah, yeah go ahead. It’s cool.” Peter can't get himself to get up off the couch so instead he just stays put on the couch just watching her.

Once MJ has grabbed her backpack and put her shoes back on she turns back to Peter just before exiting the apartment, “Bye loser.”

With those parting words she's gone, leaving Peter alone to think about what had happened just before her phone went off with a Spider-Woman alert that had interrupted them and what it meant, if anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy and feedback is always appreciated!!  
> Find me @tvfanatic97-2 on tumblr and @tvfanatic97 on twitter


	5. Chapter 5

The time spent alone with MJ at his apartment at their marathon Friday had been instrumental in mending their friendship and catching up on months of not hanging out even if it had been cut short by Spider-Woman business and there had been that weird little moment at the end- a moment which Peter chooses to forget about because he likely misread it or is remembering things in a skewed way, he instead just focuses on the fact that he's getting closer to MJ again.

The trio are back to spending most of their time together including decathlon, which MJ and Ned come to early to help Peter with setting up and occasionally they take turns staying late after practice to help Peter with cleaning up after practice was done.

And today is one such afternoon, with MJ being the one who's stayed to help Peter pack everything up after a 2-hour practice session.

“You’re not a bad team captain, you know,” MJ says seemingly out of nowhere as they busy themselves with putting the chairs and desks back to where they’d found them prior to practice.

“Don’t sound so surprised!” Peter huffs, slightly offended.

MJ laughs at his reaction but then gets serious again before speaking, “I didn’t mean it like that, Peter. I just meant that you know everyone’s strengths and how best to utilise them to make the team work well. Even Flash is almost useful to the team under your leadership.”

Peter blushes at the compliment then clears his throat before responding, “Uh, thanks MJ. I can never fill Liz’s shoes but I’m trying my best.”

“No one wants you to fill her shoes just be your own kind of captain,” MJ stops stacking chairs for a moment, looking at him earnestly as she speaks. “You really care about decathlon and this team's success, and that’s all that matters.”

“Well, thanks.” Peter instinctively rubs the back of his neck as he always does whenever he's nervous. “I kinda have to be really dedicated to decathlon,” he says looking at her to gage her reaction before he continues, “not all of my team pull their weight, you know.” His tone is light and teasing.

A few silent, very awkward seconds pass where MJ doesn’t say anything in response to his joke which makes him increasingly nervous and he starts to doubt his little dig, joke or not. “Sorry, sorry I shouldn’t have said that. That was a terrible, no good joke. Way too soon, I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologising Peter, I deserved that,” MJ finally says something.

“No you don’t I was just kidding. Besides you’re trying now, that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah I’m really trying to balance it all and be a better friend,” MJ says quietly before resuming stacking the chairs. “And speaking of being a good friend, I know what your answer is gonna be but have you got a birthday present for Ned?”

Peter looks at her in disbelief, how could she even ask him that? “Of course I have, I bought it months ago. Who do you think I am?”

They finally finish stacking the chairs and putting the tables back and are packing up their belongings into their backpacks.  “Shut up, I did say I knew what your answer was gonna be. Anyway, do you wanna go to the mall to help me buy him a present when we’re done here?”

“Ned’s birthday is the day after tomorrow…” Peter points out oh-so helpfully.

“Do you wanna come with or not?” MJ asks ignoring his little dig at how last minute she's leaving this.

“Um-“ Peter pauses feeling a mixture of nervous and embarrassed. “I- I actually can’t tonight I have plans, sorry” Peter keeps his response purposefully vague since he doesn't want to have this talk with MJ right now.

“Okay, cool.” MJ replies, surprisingly not pressing him further about what his plans could be like she'd normally have done if he she felt like he was being cagey. Peter could’ve sworn he saw a flash of disappointment on her face but it's gone before he can even pinpoint what he’d seen so he figures he probably imagined it.

“Well see you tomorrow, nerd.” MJ says with a small, slightly awkward as if it was unplanned, salute as she walks out of the door, leaving him alone.

“Bye!” Peter waves back excitedly in direct contrast to MJ’s more blasé manner. After she's gone he watches after her for a few moments before he looks down at his phone and realises he'll be late for his appointment if he doesn't leave right now.

 

* * *

 

 

As Peter is making his way to his appointment, an old Vampire Club album blaring from his headphones, he can't seem to shake the feeling that he's not only being watched but also being followed.

He subtly turns to look behind him to see if can spot anything and he thinks he sees a shadow move across the fire escape of a nearby apartment building but when he does a double take to look more closely there's no one there meaning he was probably just being paranoid.

He continues walking, heading down an alleyway that normally serves as a shortcut to his destination when he once again gets the sense that he's being followed.

This time when he turns around there's a hooded figure who had turned into the same alleyway and who is hot on his heels.

Peter yanks out his headphones and picks up the pace just a notch, not wanting to presume the figure is out to rob him but also not being comfortable with being in this abandoned alleyway with them for much longer.

He's about to pick his pace up even further to a slow jog when he feels a hand grab his shoulder and stop him.

“Just hand over your phone and wallet and I’ll be on my way. I don't want no trouble man,” The hooded figure says once Peter has turned around to face him.

Peter pauses, sighing. Just his luck. Of course he's being robbed of his phone and what little money he has and, to make matters worse he knows May can't afford to buy him a new phone currently meaning he's going to be without a phone for a few months till they have enough saved up to get him a replacement one. He supposes he's lucky that he has a preference for paper and pen meaning he doesn't have his laptop on him lest he be robbed of that too.

He’d paused a little too long for the robber’s liking apparently because next thing Peter knows the guy pulls out a knife from his hoodie pocket before speaking again, “What are you deaf? I said gimme your phone and wallet!” He was angrier than before now.

“Yeah, yeah, okay man.” Peter replies nervously as he reaches into his pockets to bring out the phone and wallet as requested/demanded.

As soon as he hands the phone and wallet over to the guy, his would be robber is suddenly yanked back away from Peter. “I’m pretty sure those aren’t yours.” A familiar voice rings out, though MJ is clearly trying to make her voice sound deep again like she’d done in DC which would amuse Peter if he wasn't still terrified at having just had a knife pulled on him.

She snatches the phone and wallet out his hands as she simultaneously hits him with a right cross across his face that causes him to pass out. She takes his knife out of his hand and then moves his passed out form to lean against a nearby dumpster.

“He had a kitchen knife and was robbing a teenager so I’m pretty sure he’s not some big time criminal. He probably just needs some cash so I don’t want to call the police on him because he’s a black kid that was robbing a white kid and the police won’t be too kind on him,” MJ says in a rambling manner unlike how MJ as well, MJ, normally speaks, still using her fake deep voice, as she throws the knife into the dumpster before walking towards Peter.

“Yeah sure,” Peter says clearing his throat as he accepts his phone and wallet from her, putting them back into his pockets. “Thanks,  _Spider-Man_ ,” he puts emphasis on the “Man” just to tease her.

“You’re welcome, citizen.” And with those words she shoots a web out to the ledge of a nearby building then shoots up onto the roof and is gone before he can even blink, leaving him to run to the appointment he's definitely late for now.

 

* * *

 

 

Peter goes to his appointments on two further occasions after decathlon practice, although this time he has a security escort in the form of Spider-Woman following him though he pretends like he doesn't see her swinging from building to building along with him as he makes his way.

He figures she's following him for his safety after he was nearly robbed but part of him also wonders if part of her motivations are her being curious about what all his appointments are for though he's surprised that she hasn’t just outright asked him as MJ, given how she's much more forward and confrontational unlike his timid self.

Unsurprisingly, she brings it up whilst she helps him clear up after decathlon when it 's once again her week to stay behind with him.

“So do you wanna go get ice cream after or do you have another one of your  _appointments_  today?” She asks putting air quotation marks around the word appointments as she speaks.

“No, I don’t have an appointment today. I get them depending on availability usually.” Peter replies as he finishes off with the tables whilst she does the chairs as is now their routine for cleaning up.

They continue packing away for a few more minutes in silence though Peter can almost hear MJ thinking and considering from across the room, probably deciding whether to ask him about his appointments or not and how to go about it if she were to ask him, he figures.

“What are your appointments for anyway?” she eventually asks after making her decision.

Peter sighs, finishing off the tables before speaking, “They’re- they’re to see a therapist.”

“Oh,” MJ says quietly. “Sorry I asked you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“No it’s okay, I’ve been seeing her semi-regularly since Ben died.” At the mention of Ben’s death Peter sees MJ look down away from him in what he assumes is pity- he's used to the reaction from people around him whenever the topic crops up at the point. “It’s a charity organisation that offers bereavement counselling to people that can’t afford regular therapy but, uh, they’re in high demand so I only go when there is availability which is like once every few months unfortunately. Recently she’s had some free blocks that’s why I’ve been going a bit more regularly.”

“I’m really sorry Peter. I know I’ve been weird and haven’t really been there for you since you lost him,” MJ says, still refusing to look at him.

“It’s okay MJ. I won't lie to you, I was mad at you to begin with but I figured you probably had your own things going on. Also, I mean I love you- and Ned,  _obviously_ , but there probably wouldn’t have been much you could’ve done to really help and the therapist has really helped May and I.” Peter is trying to get her to look at him but still she refuses.

MJ doesn't speak and is still refusing to look at him so he decides to shift the topic of conversation a bit, feeling slightly brave after having opened up to her. “Speaking of, what has been going on with you?”

MJ clears her throat and exhales slightly and the change then finally turns to face him again before speaking, “Um well, mainly just the Stark Internship. It’s been taking up a lot of my time but I’ve reduced some of my responsibilities a bit this term.”

“What exactly do you do there?” Peter probes some more, encouraged by her starting to open up.

“I shadow Pepper Potts mostly, so I go with her to all her meetings and everything and she keeps weird CEO hours that’s why sometimes I have to leave at weird times.”

“That’s cool. So how come you’ve reduced your responsibilities now?”

“Well before I was spending extra time at Stark Industries, way more than I needed to, to be honest because things were a bit weird at home.” MJ responds slightly nervously.

“How come things were weird?” Peter asks. Where was this straightforwardness when it came to asking MJ about the whole Spider-Woman thing, he asks himself but he pushes the thought aside to listen to his friend.

“Well I came out as bi to my parents earlier this year and they didn’t disown me or anything but things were just a little weird that’s why I wasn’t at home much whenever you dropped by,” MJ says giving him a knowing look at the mention of his frequent visits to her house.

“Oh. Are things all good now?”

“Yeah, things are great now that’s why I’ve cut down my internship hours.”

“That’s good to hear.” Then after a pause, “So, do you just work with Pepper Potts or do you work with others at the company? Like, have you gotten to meet  _the_  Tony Stark?” Peter asks excitedly.

“What’s with the 21 questions?” MJ asked incredulously with a roll of her eyes. “Calm your nerd boner but yes, I do work with other people and yes I have met Tony, he’s Pepper’s husband after all.”

“Tony Stark, better known as Pepper Potts’ husband.” Peter declares, amused at the gender flipped title.

MJ bursts out laughing at his comment and because he can't help himself whenever he's around her laughter, he soon joins in even though his comment hadn’t really been all that funny.

The laughter eventually dies down and they finish packing up and are now headed out of school together.

“So…ice cream?” Peter asks, remembering what had started their whole conversation.

“Sure, nerd.”

“You always call Ned and I nerds but if you’re part of our friendship group, what does that make you? A nerd also, perhaps?” Peter asked cheekily, stroking a non-existent beard pretending to be in deep thought.

MJ responds by shoving him and ruffling his hair, using her slight height advantage to reach over and keep ruffling his hair even when he tries to escape her grasp- something she always used to do when they were in middle school.

“Okay, okay. I take it back you’re not a nerd. Stop please,” He pleads through his laughter as she continues to ruffle his hair, he can feel how knotted it's already becoming at her actions.

Their moment is interrupted by MJ’s phone buzzing which causes her to pause her actions as she takes her phone out to check what the notification was. She looks up at him with a slightly guilty look Peter is becoming all too familiar with now before she speaks, “Can we take a rain check on the ice cream? It’s Pepper, I need to go sorry.”

“Sure, MJ. See you tomorrow.”

And with that MJ runs off around the corner, leaving Peter to continue on alone.

He's pleased with the progress they are making especially with her starting to divulge a bit about her "Internship" today, and he figures soon enough they will have rebuilt their friendship and trust enough for her to share her Spider-Woman secret with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi just to clarify, Peter only focusing on MJ's weird behaviour before was a case of hyperfixation to help him cope with Ben's death- I really hope it doesn't seem like I've just tacked uncle Ben's death on now. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter and feedback is always much appreciated!  
> Find me @tvfanatic97-2 on tumblr and @tvfanatic97 on twitter x


	6. Chapter 6

“Okay, so explain to me again  _why_  exactly we’re going to Flash’s lame-ass sixteenth birthday party?” MJ asks between sips of her ever-present herbal tea.

“Because, he invited the whole decathlon team so I have to show face since- you know, I’m the captain now. Ignore that unintentional 'Captain Phillips' reference,” Peter explains, slightly exhausted. They’ve gone through this routine where MJ laments about the why whilst he explains that his duties and responsibilities as Academic Decathlon team captain also extend to outside of school and include doing social activities with the team, and Flash’s “lame-ass birthday party” definitely counts.

“Plus-“ Ned interjects from where he’s sat opposite the pair on their lunch table, “-there's a bunch of other people from school going not just decathlon so this is our chance to branch out friendship wise, because I love you guys but I need more than this,” he gestured to their little trio.

““ _More_ ” as in Betty Brant?” Peter teases.

“Shut up,” Ned retorts with a threatening glare.

At the same time MJ comments, “Betty Brant? Well, that’s new.”

“Yeah, you’ve missed quite a lot.” The words slip out of Peter’s mouth before he has the time to stop them. And once they’re out, an awkward silence settles over the trio even as the rest of the school and the commotion of the cafeteria carries on around them.

MJ looks down intently into her travel mug like there’s an object of great scientific interest she has to analyse within it, whilst Ned for his part looks between Peter and MJ both scandalised that Peter would make a comment of the sort as well grimacing slightly at the awkwardness the comment has created.

The moment stretches on then finally, “Sorry, sorry. That was mean spirited, I didn’t mean it like that. It was another bad, horrible joke.” Peter stumbles out, desperately trying to diffuse the situation.

“Peter, stop apologising,” MJ comments quietly into her travel mug.

Ned, forever the buffer in all conversations and situations involving the trio since their reconciliation, mercifully speaks up, “That wasn’t what I meant anyway Peter, you should really learn to mind your business.”

“So you’re trying to tell me that the fact that Betty stayed behind at the end of practice yesterday just so she could ask you if you’re coming to the party had nothing to do with your sudden enthusiasm about going?” Peter asks, faux-curiously even though he already knows the answer. He’d, fortunately or unfortunately depending on who you asked, witnessed the entire exchange between Ned and Betty from Betty’s nerves as she constantly adjusted her hairband psyching herself up to talk to Ned in the lead up before she asked Ned if they could step aside to talk for a minute. It was then followed by Ned’s nerves when she asked to speak to him and the way he practically skipped back towards Peter when they were done once Betty was safely out of sight.

All Ned says in return is another gruff, “Shut up.”

“You know I’m right, that’s why you don’t have anything more to say for yourself,” Peter teases him further.

“That’s just embarrassing, Ned,” MJ joins in on the teasing as well.

Ned looks to MJ, “Et tu, MJ? Et tu?”

“Sickening crushes are fair game for teasing, it is the sacred law of friendship,” MJ states in a mock serious tone, using a terrible posh English accent to make herself sound more authoritative.

“Here, here,” Peter agrees with her. He’s glad that brief awkward moment has passed, though part of him wonders if and when they’re ever gonna get to a point where one sly joke or comment won’t cause tension amongst them. He also wonders if he’s put in enough work into rebuilding his friendship with MJ for her to perhaps finally divulge her Spider-Woman secret to him so the awkwardness can pass, but he pushes that thought aside to focus on the present. The present being relentlessly teasing Ned about how much he likes Betty, in between making plans for the night of the party itself until the bell marks the end of their lunch period.

And boy do they ever tease Ned.

 

* * *

 

 

“I can’t believe we’re actually going to this lame party,” MJ complains for the umpteenth time from the back seat of May’s car next to Peter since Ned immediately called shot-gun upon his and MJ’s arrival at Peter’s place so they could head off to the party together.

“You saying you can’t believe it’s happening a million times doesn’t mean it’s not happening,” Peter rolls his eyes, albeit fondly, at MJ’s petulant whining.

“Maybe I have the power to bend things to my will simply through complaining about them enough,” MJ retorts.

“Your superhero name can be ‘The Complainer’,” Peter dubs her, playing along. The irony of discussing MJ theoretically having superpowers and being a superhero is not lost on him.

“Isn’t  being ‘The Complainer’ just being a regular New Yorker?” Ned chimes in from the front seat causing everyone in the car, even May, to burst out laughing at his joke.

“Not bad, champ,” MJ tries to downplay how truly amused she was by his joke to maintain her cold exterior. She then reaches down to pull her backpack up from the car floor onto her lap as she digs through it.

Peter turns to look ahead, resisting his temptation to peak to see if he can catch a glimpse of the suit he is certain she’ll have packed in there just in case.

Ned notices her rifling through her backpack through the rear-view mirror, “I can’t believe you brought a whole ass-“ he briefly turns to May who’s been silently driving, “sorry for the language May- I meant: I can’t believe you’re bringing that dumb backpack to a house party.”

“It has all my essentials- a stash of teabags, a book in case there are no interesting people that are drunk and/or in crisis for me observe and judge, and a small sketchbook just in case there are people that are drunk and/or in crisis that I can sketch.” MJ lists off.

“You are…such a nerd,” Ned says, though it’s said with a happy grin, more like he’s glad she really is one of them and hasn’t outgrown them or become too cool for them with time.

MJ simply glares at him through the rear-view mirror until Ned finally buckles, “Okay, okay. You’re not a nerd. You’re the mysterious cool girl that helps to balance out mine and Peter’s nerdiness so our friendship group isn’t completely lost to loser-dom. I relent, I relent.”

“And don’t you forget it,” She reaffirms with a nod.

At the same time Peter interjects to protest, “I’m not a nerd or loser, don’t lump me into this.”

Ned, MJ and even May all say at the same time, “Oh Peter.” Their tone pitiful and slightly patronising.

The one that offends him most is May, obviously, “May!”

“Pete, I mean that with fondness and love of course,” she tries to defend her joining in on the ribbing.

“Wow, even my own aunt thinks I’m a loser,” he huffs out.

“I was only agreeing to the nerd part! And like I said, I meant it with love, like “ _oh what a loveable  nerdy, handsome guy_ ”.”

Peter scoffs at that, “The hole you’re digging yourself into is only getting deeper and deeper, May.”

They pull up in front of Flash’s house before May has the time to form a proper defence.

“Thanks, May,” both MJ and Ned bid her farewell as they step out of the car.

“Peter you know I was only joking,” she says to him once they’re alone in the car as the others wait just outside in Flash’s drive.

“I know May, I love you and see you later,” he leans forward in the space between the two front seats to briefly peck her cheek.

“I love you. The money I gave you should be enough for a cab home or you can use your Uber because I linked it to my card. But call me if you need anything, okay?”

“Yes May,” Peter grumbles- they’ve gone over all this multiple times this week in the lead up to the party. He then finally steps out of the car to join Ned and MJ so they can all walk into Flash’s extravagant house together.

When they step into the house they’re immediately greeted by loud music blasting from gigantic speakers Flash has set up in his living area.

Flash notices the trio immediately and comes forward to greet them with a cool, “Nerds.”

“Hey Flash,” Ned greets distractedly, his attention already elsewhere as his eyes scan the area immediately ahead of them for a certain blonde-haired classmate.

MJ simply nods at him without saying a word, which is probably for the best. The two of them are still on rocky terms given how MJ was allowed back onto the team thereby relegating Flash to first alternate despite her unreliable nature, but Flash is too intimidated by MJ to say anything directly to her so the two of them are stuck in a stalemate where they acknowledge each other but don’t actually speak to each other. Flash had only invited MJ after Peter asked nicely, though MJ doesn’t need to know that.

“Flash, hey. We all got you this card,” Peter hands over the birthday card he bought on behalf of the trio. He figured Ned would be too preoccupied with his whole Betty situation to remember that the party was in fact a birthday party and not just an opportunity for him to get to know Betty more, and MJ is well,  _MJ_ , so there’s no way she was gonna get anything for Flash.

“Thanks Peter,” Flash accepts the card, genuinely surprised by the nice gesture. “There’s drinks and snacks in the kitchen you can help yourself to. Otherwise just, uh, mingle and socialise I guess,” he finishes off awkwardly before going off to carry on doing his rounds to greet all the guests and check that no one has destroyed any of his parents’ priceless possessions.

“What happened to “Penis Parker”?” MJ asks curiously.

Peter scratches the back of his neck nervously as he considers how to explain the new development in his and Flash’s not-quite friendship. “We’re cool or whatever,” he explains vaguely. He doesn’t want to tell her during the time she had distanced herself from them all he’d grown a bit closer to Flash given the precarious position him and MJ are still in. Him and Flash aren’t BFFs or anything, there’s just a mutual respect borne out of Peter, as captain, finally seeing that Flash actually works hard and is committed to decathlon but hides behind a façade of the rich asshole due to some kind of insecurity, as well as Flash appreciating the way Peter wasn’t as wholly forgiving of MJ after the whole DC fiasco like everyone else was and seemed to appreciate what being relegated for her when she re-joined the team was like for him.

“Weird,” He can tell that MJ can see that there’s more to the story than Peter is letting on but she lets it go. “Let’s go assess the snack situation.”

“Hey guys, I think I’m gonna, uh, mingle and stuff instead,” Ned says not even facing the pair. When Peter follows his line of sight he sees Betty waving at Ned. Ah, of course.

“Sure bud, you go and  _mingle_ ,” Peter teases, waggling his eyebrows comically and nudging him along.

MJ snorts. “Yeah  _mingle_  with your girlfriend,” she teases in a childish tone.

Ned turns to mumble a quick “shut up” at the pair before leaving them alone.

Peter follows after MJ as she navigates through the throngs of people in the direction of the kitchen.

“Not bad, not bad,” she notes as she scans the kitchen counters to see all the snacks on offer. “Nice,” she says as she reaches into of one the bowls of chips before dunking it in the guacamole sat nearby in a smaller bowl.

Peter kind of hovers awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Parties aren’t really his thing, well, he’s never really been to any so he doesn’t know if they’re his thing technically. There’s that on top of how weird things still are between him and MJ whenever they are alone, which makes things weird for lack of another, better descriptor for the situation.

Luckily MJ either doesn’t notice how bizarre he’s acting or elects to ignore it and instead starts commandeering snacks. “Grab that other chip bowl and the salsa. Oh, and can you stuff a coupla packets of candy into your pockets, my jeans have the really crappy shallow, girl jean pockets,” she instructs as she herself grabs the bowl she was just eating out of along with the guacamole.

She then walks out of the kitchen without a word so Peter assumes he’s just meant to follow after her.

They walk through the crowd of people they pushed through previously, making sure their snacks are safe. Peter isn’t really sure where they are going and MJ doesn’t seem to know either as she pauses to look around once they are stood near the entrance where they have a nice vantage point.

“This way,” she points to the open door beneath the stairs which presumably leads to a basement.

They make their way down the stairs and find a games room that’s relatively empty with only a few party guests there who are either currently playing video games on the console connected to the massive TV or playing table tennis at the table in the corner. They find an empty couch where they settle side by side with the snacks strewn across both their laps and MJ places her backpack on the floor by them once she takes it off her back. The couch is barely big enough for the two of them so they sit close together, their bodies touching from their shoulders down to their legs and feet.

They sit quietly as they both dig into their chip and dip selection, occasionally swapping bowls so they can each have the other chip option.

Eventually though, Peter feels like he should make conversation because he may not have been to many parties before but he’s pretty sure you’re not meant to just sit in a basement corner eating in silence. “Do you want play ping pong?”

“Nope,” MJ replies between bites of chips. Peter looks down and sees that she has nearly finished the entire bowl in her lap. Being a superhero and fighting crime must come with a huge appetite he figures. MJ notices him staring at the bowl, “What? I was hungry.”

Peter startles, “No, no, uh, I wasn’t judging.” MJ looks like she doesn’t believe him so he adds on, “We’re teenagers, growing and um, going through puberty and stuff so we need all the nutrients…” He immediately feels his cheeks heat up. Why oh why did he say that of all things. Going through puberty? Nutrients? He’d clearly been privy to too many talks from aunt May recently, that was the only acceptable explanation for why he’d just embarrassed himself like that.

“Sure,  _puberty_ ,” MJ says, barely containing a laugh.

Peter takes the empty bowl in her lap and swaps it for the half-full one in his lap so she can carry on eating, which she does.

The silence between them stretches on for a long time until Peter can’t stand it anymore. He really doesn’t like how awkward things are between him and MJ recently, they used to spend lots of time alone together without Ned before and it was never like this. He reasons it’s most likely due to the period where they grew apart and the whole Spider-Woman secret that looms over them. It’s definitely not also down to how he’s weirdly been noticing more and more things about MJ or thinking about her at a frequency that veers away from platonic territory. It’s also definitely not because of that weird moment, a moment that he’s replayed over and over in his mind despite his best efforts to just forget about it, in his apartment a few weeks back when they’d had their (interrupted) movie night without Ned. Nope.

Peter panics at his current train of thought and so speaks up to stop its development, and perhaps he should have taken the time to think over his words before speaking because what comes out is, “So, how’s the whole bisexual thing going?”

This time MJ doesn’t try to contain her laughter and just outright laughs in his face. Due to their bodies proximity because of how they’re sat on this small couch he feels her body shaking with laughter and a warmth settles over him at both the sound and feeling of her laughter that it’s almost enough to mask the humiliation he feels at the words that have just come out of his mouth.

““ _The whole bisexual thing_?”” She questions amusedly once she’s stopped laughing for long enough.

“I- uh- I, that’s not what I meant,” Peter sputters. “I meant, um, I meant are things okay with your parents and everything?”

“Yep,” she answers simply, clearly enjoying Peter’s embarrassment.

“That came out wrong and weird. I’m sorry,” Peter apologises, staring down at the bottom of the empty bowl perched on his lap instead of at her.

She nudges his shoulder gently to get him to look up at her, “I know you didn’t mean it in a weird way Peter, it’s okay.” She punctuates her words with a small smile, the special kind that he has also been noticing as of late- the one where it’s not a full grin but he can see her one special front tooth peeking out slightly and the corner of her eyes crinkle in a way that’s…adorable.

He feels his cheeks start to heat up again, though this time for entirely different reasons compared to his verbal diarrhoea before so he tries to snap out of the weird haze that’s coming over him and get the conversation going again, “That’s good. Really cool. I’m really glad.”

“Yeah,” MJ offers yet another one-word response as she still watches him. She seems to be really entertained by Peter’s nerves and fumbling, which he’s not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. She still has that small special smile on her face as she watches him so he ultimately decides it might be a good thing.

“So, uh,” he tries to get the conversation flowing again, “What’s the deal with you and Gwen-Stacy?”

She narrows her eyes curiously at him, “Gwen-Stacy?”

Oh so she doesn’t realise?

“She’s definitely crushing on you dude,” the ‘dude’ feels like a forced attempt at casualness- why the casualness has to be forced he’s not entirely sure, well, he’s sure why he just doesn’t want to think about it or admit it to himself- coming out of his mouth but he decides to roll with it because they’re friends and this is a normal conversation between friends.

“What? No,” MJ argues.

“MJ, you’re so oblivious to when people like you,” Peter points out. She really,  _really_  is.

She mumbles something back in response which he doesn’t quite catch though it kind of sounds suspiciously like “So are you” but he figures he misheard or heard what he wanted to hear so presses on with the Gwen-Stacy thing. “She like, follows after your every move whenever you’re around and has recently been asking me about you loads in geometry.”

“I-“ the rest of MJ’s words are interrupted by her phone vibrating. It must be in her pocket nearest to him because he feels the vibration as well. “Sorry, it’s probably Pepper. I should get this,” she hands him the now empty bowl of chips and guacamole then grabs her backpack and goes back up to the main floor.

Peter gets his phone out, aimlessly browsing between all his social media apps whilst he waits though he suspects she’s probably not coming back.

His suspicions are confirmed when half an hour passes and she still hasn’t come back. He stacks the empty bowls together and gets up to head back to the kitchen to put them back then possibly try and find Ned. He sincerely hopes he’s not gone off to one of the bedrooms or something to make out with Betty.

Once he gets back to the kitchen he fumbles around the massive kitchen for a while in search of a dishwasher. All the cupboards look the same and he feels rude for rifling through them so in the end he hand washes the empty bowls him and MJ used and places them on the draining board to dry before heading off in search of Ned.

Fortunately Ned hasn’t disappeared off somewhere with Betty and he finds them after just a few minutes of searching through the expansive house. He finds Ned and Betty sat together by the stairs. Peter notes how Betty looks slightly worse for wear and is currently nursing a glass of water whilst Ned tries to look after her.

“Hey guys. Are you okay Betty?” Peter asks curiously.

“No I’m drunk,” Betty explains. He can tell as much by the tone of her voice.

“She didn’t realise one of the punch bowls had alcohol in it and she’s had a few cups from it,” Ned explains with a grimace. “Luckily she hasn’t been sick or anything.”

Peter winces sympathetically.

“I was gonna come and find you to tell you I was gonna head off to take her home, actually.”

“Oh, uh, we can get an Uber or something, May gave me the money for it” Peter feels bad for Betty but he is relieved he doesn’t have to stay at this party any longer now that MJ is gone.

“No Peter,” Betty drawls. “I have money, don’t you worry.”

“Okay Betty,” Peter replies with a hint of amusement. “Do you have a purse of anything you want me to get whilst Ned orders an Uber?”

“Ooh yeah. My jacket is in the main living room on the corner chair and my purse is under it.”

“Okay I’ll get it for you,” he tells Betty. “You order the Uber whilst I get it,” he turns to Ned.

He finds her stuff exactly where she said it was and by the time he’s back the Uber is arriving outside Flash’s so they head out. Betty is luckily already starting to sober up so they don’t have to deal with an annoyed Uber driver who doesn’t want drunk passengers.

 

* * *

 

 

They settle into the car, with Peter riding shotgun whilst Ned and Betty are in the back.

Beyond the polite greeting when they first got into the car, the driver doesn’t really speak to them and they mostly sit in silence with music playing softly from the car radio for the short ten-minute journey to Betty’s.

When they arrive at her house Ned goes with her to drop her off whilst Peter stays behind re-ordering the same Uber to go to his apartment since it’s closer to where they are than Ned’s place.

Ned re-joins him in the car and settles in the back seat then they start the half an hour journey to Peter’s apartment in silence again.

“When did MJ leave?” Ned asks, breaking the comfortable silence.

“Oh, about half an hour or so before we left with Betty. Think it was stuff with her internship.”

“Cool, cool,” Ned says awkwardly before growing silent again.

“So, uh,” Peter starts feeling slightly brave, “Has she talked to you about her internship and everything?”

Ned pauses briefly before responding and Peter can’t see his face through the rear-view mirror in the darkness of the car to decipher what’s going through his mind. Before he can overthink it too much Ned finally replies, “Yeah, yeah. I kind of found out about it on accident because I overheard her talking to Tony Stark whilst we were in DC that time then she told me everything.”

“Cool, cool,” Peter chooses not to comment on Ned saying MJ was supposedly talking to Tony Stark when her “internship” is meant to be with Pepper Potts because Ned is a horrible liar and he doesn’t want to put him on the spot- the Spider-Woman secret is not his to tell, and certainly not in an Uber.

They go back to riding in silence again for a little bit.

Then, “So did she- did she tell you not to tell me about her internship?” And there it is. The question he’s been wanting to ask Ned all along. The issue that’s been bothering him slightly for a while, though he hadn’t realised it had been bothering him until it had somehow come up during one of his therapy sessions.

“Oh,” realisation sets in in Ned. “Um, yeah. Yeah she did.” He clears his throat once, twice, then speaks up again, “I don’t wanna go into her reasons for not telling you, I think that’d sound better coming from her but I just figured she’d eventually tell you herself. She’s like all secretive and mysterious and stuff but I didn’t think she’d keep it from  _you_  of all people for as long as she did.”

Peter narrows his eyes at Ned’s declaration. What makes him so special or different?

Ned continues, “I was torn between being mad at her for still keeping you at a distance but also not wanting to shut her out because she’d come out to her parents and things were iffy and she needed some support. That’s why I didn’t tell you, Peter. I mean it wasn’t my place to tell you anyway but that was my personal reasoning. I just want you to know that I didn’t just forget about how much it hurt us- hurt you, when she distanced herself, I was just in a tough position.” It all comes out quickly in essentially one breath then he pauses to take a deep breath. “I’m sorry Peter.”

Ned’s words lift a weight off Peter’s shoulders he hadn’t even realised was there. He feels lighter and more content now. He exhales loudly, mostly in relief. “It’s cool Ned, you don’t have to feel bad.”

“Love you man,” Ned tells him.

“Love you too.” Peter glances sideways to find their Uber driver just driving along quietly, his face not showing any signs that he was even so much as listening to the boys’ conversation.

“At least she’s told me her secret now,” Peter comments, slightly humorously since she quite clearly has not. But the double meaning behind his words is lost on Ned and he doesn’t have the time to comment on them even if he had noticed anyway as they shortly arrive outside Peter’s apartment building.

“I’ll text you tomorrow. Maybe we can go for brunch with MJ or something,” Ned bids Peter farewell.

“See ya, man,” Peter says before stepping out of the car and heading up to his apartment.

When he gets in, May is still up watching TV and she turns to greet him, “Hey honey. You’re back early.”

“Yeah, wasn’t really my scene,” he says as he walks to the back of the couch. He leans over a presses a quick kiss to her cheek, “Goodnight May.”

“Good night honey.”

As he is changing out of the clothes he wore to the party he finds a few packets of candy that MJ had made him stash, and he can't help but smile at that. His phone vibrates at the same moment and when he looks down at it he finds a text from MJ saying:

**_Hey loser, sorry I had to leave- Pepper needed me to come in for something. The party was lame just as I thought it would be, but you made it not so lame. See you tomorrow._ **

He shoots off a quick, simple reply:

**_:) x_ **

Then he puts his phone down to go to sleep feeling weirdly content and… _happy_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiiiii...I'm so sorry for the long wait. I hit a block inspiration wise and have been trying to write more whilst I've been writing other fics and now I finally managed to get something I was relatively happy with to post. I've made a few edits to the fic but nothing consequential plot-wise dw. Sorry again for the 84-year wait and hope you enjoy this. As always, comments and kudos are much appreciated!
> 
> And also you can find me on tumblr @tvfanatic97-2 and on twitter @tvfanatic97, if you want to that is x


	7. Chapter 7

Peter wakes up feeling slightly groggy to the Saturday morning sun filtering in through his open blinds that he’d forgotten to close the previous night when him, Ned and MJ went to bed. He takes a moment to re-orientate himself in terms of his whereabouts and realises that he’s sleeping on the floor on a makeshift mattress made of sleeping bags along with various blankets.

He looks up slightly to the bottom bunk and notices that MJ is absent from her usual sleeping spot whenever they have their sleepovers- unsurprising really. He suspects that she normally sneaks out for a couple of hours in the early hours of Saturday mornings whenever they have their sleepovers for what he can only assume is Spider-Woman business then comes back before him and Ned wake up. He also can’t hear quiet snoring from the top bunk so he figures Ned is already awake as well.

He gets up from the floor and folds all the blankets and packs up the sleeping bags then piles them onto the bottom bunk for now, he can put them away later.

After he’s done cleaning up his floor space he leaves his room to go and find his friends and he is instead greeted by May who seems to have been waiting for him to wake up just outside his room.

“Hey honey,” she greets immediately, hugging him tightly.

He notes how red and blotchy her face appears when she pulls away from the hug, which coupled with her wet eyes means she’s probably been crying which-  _oh_. Peter rakes his brain remembering today’s date, and the sudden realisation hits him like a ton of bricks, dragging all the air out of him.

It is- or would have been-  _his_  birthday today.

It’s not that he’d forgotten as such, he’d just sort of unintentionally, or it was intentional- who knows, pushed it to the back of his mind in an attempt to avoid having his grief and sadness overcome him. Now the hesitation both MJ and Ned had displayed at him inviting the pair over for their usual Friday night movie marathon makes sense.

He pulls May back into his arms for another hug, then just holds her for a prolonged moment as the pair provide comfort to one another. He can feel May’s body shaking with her cries and he notes how her shoulder that he’s leaning his head on is slightly wet.

Eventually they pull apart then just stare at each other, no words exchanged between them, and May reaches a hand over to wipe away some of Peter’s tears.

“Hey-” Ned interrupts the quiet moment. “Sorry to interrupt but, uh, all the food’s done now,” he says, his voice quiet and unsure.

“Let’s eat!” May exclaims clapping her hands and rubbing them together excitedly, though he can tell she’s faking the excitement. “MJ and Ned have been helping me to prepare all the food and I don’t want it to go cold so c’mon.”

When they round the corner to their small dining table he sees that the entire table is covered in a large, over compensatory, amount of breakfast food from eggs to pancakes to bacon and French toast.

He shoots a small smile to MJ who’s perched in the corner seat of the table and she simply waves back without saying anything in return. She always gets weird around him where the topic of Ben is involved, but so do most people who don’t know how to navigate talking about it when they have no experience of losing a loved one in such a violent way so Peter doesn’t really think much of it.

The general mood of the small apartment is sombre so Peter tries to lighten things up slightly, “You guys realise there’s only four of us, right? You’ve made enough food to feed a small country.”

It seems to work in providing some much-needed levity as everyone finally settles in around the table, Ned and May sat opposite him whilst he is in the seat next to MJ’s. They eat as they fill May in on stories about their school week and she tells them amusing anecdotes about some of her encounters at work over the week.

They surprisingly manage to finish all the food with MJ again, having eaten a great proportion of the food but this time he’s careful to not stare at her empty plate too long and draw attention to how much she eats like he did a few weeks back at Flash’s sixteenth birthday party; it’s rude.

“You guys can go and watch some TV or something whilst I clean up,” May says as she gets up, already starting to stack the empty dishes.

“May, my Filipina mom would literally murder me if she found out I sat in front of the TV with my feet kicked up whilst an adult did all the cleaning by themselves,” Ned says with a slight shudder, like he can already picture his mom’s reaction.

She simply laughs at the boy’s words, “Ned I’m giving you permission to kick your feet up and watch TV whilst I, the adult, clean up by myself okay? I won’t tell your mom if you don’t.” She winks slyly at him.

They still help her move all the dishes to the kitchen because they feel too bad but May has to shoo them away and physically push Peter out of the kitchen when they keep hanging around in the kitchen trying to sneakily load the dishwasher and clean the kitchen counters.

They go and settle in the living area with MJ once again taking the corner armchair, which is weird because for the past few weeks she’d taken to sitting next to Peter on the larger couch whilst Ned took the armchair- she’d also done the same thing last night during their rom-com (Ned’s choice) movie marathon. Ned seems to also notice the change in seating arrangements but simply shrugs and takes his place next to Peter.

“We’ll get out of your hair soon so you and May can be alone,” Ned says quietly.

“No, stay!” Peter protests almost immediately. “I- I don’t really want to be alone today but I think that May kind of wants to be alone but would never say so because of me. But I just wanna give her some space, y’know?”

“We can do whatever you wanna do Peter, today’s all about you,” Ned says, gently patting Peter’s shoulder.

MJ offers a small, unsteady smile to show her agreement to Ned’s words.

“Well, I was thinking we could maybe go for a hike upstate?”

“Sure,” Ned replies almost instantly.

At the same time MJ finally speaks or more accurately, grumbles, “Ew, physical activity.”

“MJ you’re like ripped now, I don’t see what the issue is.” Peter says it without even thinking about it and it’s only when he catches a glimpse of Ned’s wide-eyed stare with his eyebrows hiked up to his forehead in genuine surprise, do Peter’s words finally catch up to him. He’d made that comment about her body out loud hadn’t he?

He chances a quick glance at MJ who’s staring at him with a mixture of amusement and disbelief but she luckily, doesn’t utter a word.

“Uh, it’s just something Ben and I used to do all the time,” he rushes out. Using his uncle’s memory as a diversion from him commenting on MJ’s body is a new low but it’s not as if it’s not true, so it’s fine. Right?

“That sounds great Peter!” Ned exclaims eventually after a tense few silent seconds.

They then make plans for their journey and day and take turns to shower before leaving the apartment to head to MJ’s then Ned’s.

After dropping by both of his friends’ places for them to change into appropriate hiking clothes and shoes and stopping by Delmar’s to buy lunch and snacks for them to take with them, the trio then catch a train to go upstate.

 

* * *

 

 

The journey isn’t horrendously long, about forty minutes or so in total. MJ again elects to not sit next to Peter which admittedly gives Peter pause and may even cause him to feel slightly hurt. But he doesn’t concentrate on it too much as Ned settles in next to him and gets out his phone so the pair can entertain themselves with YouTube videos as they share earphones.

MJ sits opposite them quietly sketching the entirety of the journey. When he tries to steal a glance to see what she’s sketching she tilts her sketchpad away from him and growls lowly in warning so Peter doesn’t try it again and focuses on talking to Ned rather than thinking about MJ or how she hasn’t said more than ten words to him thus far today.

Eventually they reach their destination, a hiking trail he’d frequented with Ben when he was younger.

They slowly walk up the easy trail, occasionally stopping to admire some of the views along the trail over a nearly two-hour period until they reach the end of the trail which is a large hill overlooking the nearby town at which point they lay down a blanket Peter brought with him.

Then they all settle on the blanket for a picnic, though MJ mostly continues to sketch her mysterious drawing whilst Ned and Peter dig into the food they packed. She eventually stops sketching, closing the pad with a satisfied sigh.

“Are you gonna show us what you drew?” Ned asks almost immediately.

“Nope,” she replies simply, not elaborating any further.

They all sit there in silence for a while, the silence both semi-comfortable and also semi-awkward, until Peter feels compelled to break it since the only reason things are weird is because he’s the one forcing his friends to spend his dead uncle’s birthday with him.

“I brought a frisbee?” he suggests sheepishly.

Ned quickly hops to his feet, glad about the distraction. “I will destroy you at ultimate frisbee.”

“MJ will destroy us both let’s be real,” Peter deadpans.

“True, true. MJ?” Ned asks as he turns to her to see if she’ll chime in with any trash talk.

“I'm gonna-” her cell phone chooses that moment to go off with the specific tone that’s now familiar to all of them at this point.

She looks guiltily at him, sort of like she’s waiting for his permission to go. He selfishly considers telling her to ignore her phone and stay here with them. Would she stay if he asked?

Almost as soon as he has the thought he dismisses it. If her phone’s going off there are people in danger who need Spider-Woman right now, his feelings do not outweigh people’s lives. Plus he has Ned, it’s not as if she’d be completely abandoning him on such an important day. That logic still doesn’t take away the pang of hurt though, but he pushes it down and gives MJ a small smile to quietly let her know it’s okay.

MJ gets up and starts packing away her things into her backpack, “I’m sorry Peter but it’s really important that I go and deal with this Pepper thing. She really needs me.”

“Sure, MJ,” he throws her another small smile to try and reassure her because he can tell how much she’s warring with herself about leaving.

“I just have a responsibility to do this, y’know?” She keeps mumbling, trying to justify herself.

Peter pauses at her words, thinking back to a conversation he’d once had with his uncle in eighth grade about the responsibility each individual has to do whatever they can to help others in need after Peter had gotten into trouble for calling another kid a son of a bitch for bullying his classmate. He smiles sadly to himself at the memory; he misses him so much.

When he looks up MJ now has her backpack on her back and is all but ready to go but hesitates slightly still. Peter watches her closely as she plays with the straps of her backpack briefly, takes a slow deep breath in then out before turning to look at Ned who’s stood a couple of feet away with the frisbee in his hands.

The pair seem to have a silent, quick conversation that Peter is not privy to that ends with Ned walking further away from the picnic blanket, shaking his head and seeming annoyed. Once he’s a bit further away MJ turns back to Peter with an apologetic expression.

“Can I- can I come to yours tonight after I’m done with Pepper?” She asks hesitantly.

He appreciates that she’s trying to make it up to him for having to leave right now. “I’d really like that.”

She hesitates again, balling her hands into fists briefly before she quickly kneels in front of his sitting form and pulls him into a tight hug before he’s even registered what’s happening but his arms wrap around her waist automatically almost at their own accord to reciprocate the hug even if his brain hasn't caught up to what's happening.

“I’m really,  _really_  sorry Peter,” she whispers into his hair then just as quickly as she crouched in front of him and pulled him into a hug she pulls away and gets up and is walking back down the trail before he has the chance to say anything.

Ned and he spend a couple of hours more at the top of the hill playing with the frisbee, playing heads up and trivial pursuit on his phone then reading a comic Ned had packed in his backpack before they eventually decide they should start heading back before it gets too late. They make their way back down the trail, which fortunately takes far less time than the journey up had considering it’s all downhill and they don't stop constantly like they'd done on the way up, then they get the train back home.

 

* * *

 

 

Peter first drops Ned home then spends some time at his place after his mom insists he has dinner with them, but eventually he makes his excuses so he can leave when he remembers that MJ had said she'd drop by tonight. Ned's mom sends him home with an extra-long and tight hug and a container of food for May and insists that Peter text them when he gets home.

On his relatively short walk back home he decides to take a quick detour to Delmar’s to buy some chocolates for May; she’s always said chocolate makes her feel better when she’s sad and he’s betting she’s probably gone through her stash over the course of the day and might secretly appreciate some more even if she’ll initially protest about how it’s too much sugar and Peter wants her to get diabetes.

He walks into the store and politely greets Mr Delmar in Spanish before going to look at the selection of chocolates to find May’s favorite. He picks up a box then goes towards the back to the fridges to pick up a bottle of his milk since he’s pretty sure they’re running low.

He’s just reaching for a bottle when he hears some vague commotion coming from the front of the store over the music playing through his earphones so he takes them out briefly. He dismisses it as likely being some drunk rowdy customer considering it’s Saturday evening but as he’s rounding the corner he sees a man with a gun pointed at Mr Delmar shouting at him to open the cash register.

Peter quickly turns back and crouches behind the end of the aisle to stay hidden silently praying he hasn't been spotted. He knows he should do something, take his phone out of his pocket and quietly call for help or literally  _anything_  to help but he freezes.

He tries to talk himself into moving his hand into his pocket to get his phone out but his body is defiant. The voice he should be using to call for help dies down in his throat as he finds himself unable to breathe. The hands that he should be using to dial 911 are too shaky to even reach for his cell phone.

He chastises himself for how cowardly he is being right now but the prospect of possibly having to see the real consequences of gun violence should this robbery go awry on his dead uncle’s- the one who was shot and killed less than a year ago to this day- birthday has him paralytic, unable to move or breathe.

He squats down to the ground and puts his head between his legs trying to pull himself together, to come back into himself and stop the ringing in his ears but it doesn’t work. Eventually he regains his ability to breathe and starts to take deep, slow breaths in and out and with time the ringing in his ears quiets down and his hammering heart slows down as well.

Once he’s calmed down he turns to peak around the corner where he sees a flash of red and blue land on the counter and crouch down so she’s between the robber and Mr Delmar.

“Don't worry, I’ll ring up your purchases sir,” he hears her quip.

“Shit!” The robber swears loudly clearly not having expected “Spider-Man” to show up. Unfortunately the robber isn’t smart enough to give up on the attempted robbery and panics.

In his panic, he shoots towards the counter almost hitting Mr Delmar but MJ reacts quickly to push him out of the way so the bullet hits the glass case behind him containing the alcohol and cigarettes. She then flips up onto the ceiling almost immediately and turns to the robber and shoots a web out to take their gun away. “Give it up, asshole.”

In a last ditch attempt to get away the robber turns and tries to run away but MJ jumps off the ceiling to the ground then simply shoots out another web and snatches him back towards her waiting fist which knocks him out cold and he slumps down to the ground.

She moves him so he’s leant against the counter then webs his hands and feet up before instructing someone called Karen to call the police. He watches her as she takes a moment to check that Mr Delmar is okay and to comfort him before she turns to walk out of the store with a wave, and Peter notice her slight limp.

Only then does he kick into action to run out of the store after her, the milk and chocolate forgotten.

“You’re hurt!” he shouts, stuffing the earbuds that were clutched in his hand this whole time into his pocket just as she’s reaching a hand up probably about to swing away from the front of the store.

She turns back to him and he sees the eyes of her suit widen in surprise. “Wh-where you in the store?” He notes how she now has a proper voice modifier rather than doing a ridiculous deep voice like she did before; it’s probably for the best to help maintain her secret identity but it’s not as funny for Peter.

“Did you get shot in the leg?” Peter asks ignoring her question as he slowly takes a step towards her.

“Oh,  _this_? It’s nothing.” She looks down at her leg, trying to be casual but he doesn’t miss the way she winces slightly.

Peter wants to laugh at how stubborn she’s being, how typical. “You have a gunshot wound to the leg,” he deadpans.

“'Tis but a scratch,” she says in a terrible English accent making him laugh, and she soon joins in laughing as well.

When the laughter dies down he tries again, “Look, you probably have like super-healing or whatever but can I at least take a look at the wound? I can clean it out and make sure there’s no dirt or anything in it so you don’t get an infection.”

He pauses and watches her and though she has the mask on he can tell she’s deliberating whether to accept his offer or not.

“I’ve been doing first aid courses just in case you- just in case of… _stuff_ ,” he clears his throat and scratches the back of his neck nervously. “Plus my apartment building is close by so we could go on the roof or something. And you don’t have to take off your mask or reveal your identity. I just wanna help you,” he rushes to add on to make his argument.

There’s a silent prolonged stretch of time where she considers her options before she eventually exhales loudly, seemingly having reached a decision, “Okay fine.”

Peter almost can’t believe that she’s agreeing to let him help her and stands there shocked momentarily before he recovers. “My apartment building is just a couple of blocks away, c’mon.”

They walk side-by-side in silence giving Peter the chance to think about how bizarre the situation is- he’s walking with the superhero known to the public as “Spider-Man” who has a gunshot wound in their leg to his apartment building out in the open (granted, it’s dark out now but...still).

MJ winces slightly every few steps and he wants to offer to put an arm around her so she can lean her weight on him so she’s not putting as much weight on her wounded leg but he knows her saying yes to him looking at the wound is already a lot for her, offering more is just pushing it and he doesn’t want her to change her mind about this altogether. He still walks relatively close to her just in case though.

“This is my building,” he says pointing it out uselessly considering it’s MJ. “Um, do you think you could make your way up to the roof whilst I go and get my first aid kit then I’ll meet you up there?”

She silently nods at him which he takes as his cue to run up to his apartment, electing to use the stairs rather than take the elevator since it’ll be quicker.

When he gets into his apartment he notices May curled up on the couch having fallen asleep with the TV playing some old black and white movie in the background. He quietly makes his way to his room and fetches the previously unused first aid kit he bought a few months ago then quietly sneaks out of the apartment and heads up to the roof.

A small part of him expects to find the rooftop empty but he’s pleasantly surprised when he finds her leaning against the far wall of the roof ledge, waiting for him. He clears his throat to make his presence known then walks towards her.

“How do you wanna do this?” MJ asks quietly once he’s stood beside her.

“Err…” he says as he looks around. He admittedly hadn’t really thought this through properly when he first suggested she come up here but he comes up with something on the spot, “You can sit up on the ledge then I’ll just do my thing.”

MJ hops up to sit on the ledge whilst Peter riffles through the kit to find everything he needs. Once he’s checked that everything he’ll need is in the kit he looks up to face her sheepishly, “I’ll just need to-” he nervously steps between her legs which dangle from the ledge so he’s in a good position to work.

He fishes his phone out of his pocket and puts the torch on before wordlessly handing it to MJ to hold it up for him. Once he feels like he has a good view he puts his gloves on then assesses the area around the wound just as he’d been instructed to do on the online course he took.

“I’m gonna have to cut through your suit to get a better look at the wound itself if that’s okay?” he asks quietly looking down at her leg rather than up at her because he’s way too close to her face for comfort and even if she has the mask on he doesn’t think he could survive being face-to-face with her when they're in such close proximity.

“Tony can repair the suit, go ahead,” she says, keeping her voice low as well. Peter notes how even through the suit, with how close they are to one another he feels a puff of warm air against his cheek when she speaks. He keeps all his nerdy thoughts about the breath-ability of the material and its possible make up at bay as he steels himself to focus on the task at hand.

He cuts through part of her suit so he can take a better look at the wound and realises that the bullet only grazed her and the wound isn’t actively bleeding anymore fortunately. It’s relatively clean and there doesn’t appear to be any obvious debris in the wound but he still takes the time to carefully clean it for peace of mind.

Despite the extraordinary circumstances of him cleaning out a bullet wound on his friend who’s a superhero but doesn’t know that he knows that she’s a superhero, the situation is still oddly intimate. There’s some distant sounds from the ground of people walking past as well as the usual sounds of the city on a Saturday night. He can hear his own heart beating rapidly in his ears along with the sounds he makes with his movements as he cleans but other than that it’s relatively quiet. He’s pretty sure he’s holding his breath as he works, and from the sound of it, or lack thereof, so is MJ.

Once he’s satisfied there’s definitely nothing in the wound he sterilises it with antibiotic cream from the kit then wraps a bandage around the wound with MJ lifting her leg off the ledge so he can properly wrap it around her thigh.

When the bandage is secure MJ hands him his phone back and he’s finally forced to look up at her and he’s hit with just how close they are to each other. The thought of how he could just reach a hand up and pull her mask off then-  _well_ , he’s not entirely sure what he’d do after that- briefly crosses his mind but he resists the urge.

The pair just watch each other for what feels like an eternity, her large mechanical eyes staring back at his own non-mechanical ones. He’s close enough to feel the rise and fall of her chest and it matches the rhythm of his own breathing.

They stay like that for a while, neither moving to put some distance between them until the distant sound of sirens ring out effectively breaking the moment between them as MJ clears her throat and looks away from him to follow the sound.

“I-”

“Duty calls, I know,” Peter saves her from having to explain herself.

“Thank you for, uh, y’know,” she says nervously gesturing down to her thigh which makes Peter realise he’s still stood between her legs so he takes a large step back.

“If you ever need someone to patch you up or whatever, you’re always welcome on my rooftop,” he mumbles shyly.

“Thank you, again.” She gets up to stand on the ledge from her sitting position then turns to face the street. She puts a hand up presumably about to shoot out a web off his roof but before she carries through she turns back to him and gives him a small wave. “Stay safe, citizen.”

And with that she jumps off his building and he watches as she shoots a web out to catch the edge of the taller building next door to break her fall then she repeats as she swings away to follow the fire truck where the sirens originated from.

“Stay safe… _MJ_ ,” he says mostly to himself once she’s long gone. He watches her for a moment longer with a small smile on his face before grabbing his kit and turning to head back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, hi lol. I know it's been nearly 4 months since I last updated and my uploading is literally so erratic when it comes to this fic but I promise I haven't given up on it. My inspiration for this comes and goes unfortunately and I've been working on the medical residency au in the meantime until I got hit w inspiration again so here I am lol. I can't promise another update will come really soon but I'm trying my best to wrap up all my on-going fics, w my aim being for all of them to be done by the end of May hopefully (I'm also working on another multi-chap but that's neither here nor there). Also I realise the timeline of this fic in terms of when MJ became spidey etc. is all f*cked up bc of the long period of time I've been away from this fic I'm really sorry...I'll go back through and fix it. Anyway sorry for the ramble I just wanted to say I'm really sorry and reassure that my aim is to finish this fic eventually. Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter and as always, comment and kudos are much appreciated!!
> 
> You can find me @tvfanatic97-2 on tumblr and @tvfanatic97 on twitter x


	8. Chapter 8

MJ never drops by- at least as herself rather than as her alter ego- on the Saturday night like she said she’d do before disappearing whilst they were out on their hike. He texts her a few times to check that she’s still coming, and even tells her about the attempted robbery he witnessed and the subsequent panic attack he’d had at the sight of the gun and confesses that he just really needs someone to talk to about it.

His texts get no response and they all go unread but he still foolishly waits up for her, harbouring a sliver of hope that she might still drop by after she’s done saving lives for the night despite the fact that it’s nearing 3am.

Eventually May comes into his room after noticing that his light is still on to tell him to get to sleep so he doesn’t mess up his sleeping pattern ahead of the school week but Peter embarrassingly breaks down and starts crying whilst she’s in the middle of chastising him.

He hadn’t told her about the robbery and his panic attack because he didn’t want to compound on her worries and sadness on Ben’s birthday, hence why he’s been hoping that MJ would still come over so he can at least talk about it with someone but he feels unable to hold it all in anymore.

“And the guy was pointing a gun at Mr Delmar and I just froze and started thinking about- about-” he’s unable to finish re-telling the events of earlier in the night to his aunt instead releasing a shuddering sob, his throat going dry as his eyes water.

May reacts immediately and comes to sit next to him on his bottom bunk with Peter’s head resting in her lap. She runs a tender hand through his hair whilst Peter sobs into her lap as she whispers “It’s okay, you’re okay” over and over again to calm him down.

Peter’s sobbing gradually turns to silent sniffling as May just continues to soothingly rub his back to comfort him. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I didn’t wanna scare you or upset you on today of all days,” Peter quietly breathes out into the quiet of his room.

May shifts so she’s now lying down on her side facing him, wanting to look into her eyes before she says wants to say. “I never want you to feel like you can’t tell me things just in case it upsets me, okay?”

Peter silently nods in agreement. “I miss him so much,” he quietly admits.

“Me too,” May responds at similarly quiet volume, her voice sounding distant and melancholic.

After a prolonged silent moment she gets up from his bed and presses a quick kiss to his forehead. “Go to sleep Peter.”

“Night, May,” Peter says as he moves  the phone he’s been keeping close by under his pillow whilst waiting for a text or call that was never gonna come to his bedside table. He then turns around to face the wall to resist the temptation to keep constantly checking his phone as he tries to fall asleep.

 

* * *

 

 

Peter wakes up feeling surprisingly…not quite happy, but he feels  _lighter_. He stretches his limbs lazily then picks up his phone to see that it’s nearly 2pm in the afternoon, and he also notes how he hasn’t received any texts from MJ and his texts to her remain unopened.

He puts his phone back down, deciding he’s not going to keep watching it all day- if she texts him she’ll text but he’s gonna go about his day instead of constantly waiting by his phone. With that in mind he gets out of bed, quickly making it before hopping in the shower.

After he’s clean and dressed he goes out to the kitchen where he finds May desperately trying to fan the smoke coming from a pan on the stove with her apron.

She notices his presence almost straight away, “I never learn, do I?”

Peter shakes his head bemusedly. “What were trying to make this time?”

“…Eggs,” May admits sheepishly which makes Peter laugh loudly and heartily much to May’s dismay.

After he’s done making fun of her he steps forward to switch on the fan extractor then he hip bumps her to get her to step aside so he can take over cleaning up. May half-heartedly protests as he takes the pan to throw away the charred remains of what he can only assume was meant to be scrambled eggs.

He soaks the pan in hot water then gets out another one then makes them scrambled eggs and toast, to much better results than when May had attempted it. They then sit on their small dining table and eat it as they make relative small talk being careful to avoid the topic of Ben.

They work together to clean up after they’re done then settle on the couch with a tub of Ben and Jerrys between them as they marathon the Star Wars films starting with episode IV, something of a tradition for the pair. It has been since the day a young heart-broken Peter moved in with his aunt and uncle following his parents’ death and was completely inconsolable, refusing to eat or play or do anything as he kept asking for mommy and daddy until the reality that they were never coming to pick him up had hit him and he’d sobbed- at that point May had wrapped him up in her arms then they’d eaten enough ice cream to give them tummy aches as she introduced him to Star Wars.

They get through the entire tub of cookie dough and finish episode IV, at which point May asks for a bathroom break before they move on to episode V- their personal favorite. Whilst May goes to throw away the now empty tub and head to the bathroom, Peter randomly decides to briefly flick to the local news on a whim as he waits.

He’s not entirely sure why he does but when he does he sees a breaking news alert about a hostage situation that’s been on-going for the last 10 hours that’s reached a breaking point with “Spider-Man” fighting some criminal, a Mac Gargan or something rather.

Peter sits up from his relaxed half-lying position and anxiously watches the screen as MJ fights the guy who’s donning some mech suit that looks like- is it a beetle? A scorpion? He can’t quite tell but that’s far less important than the way MJ’s body is flung across a city block and he helplessly watches as her body slams against the brick wall of a building, knocking a person-shaped hole into the side of it.

Once again he finds himself paralysed, both unable to move or breathe as all he can do is watch his best friend get pummelled on his TV screen. He feels like he should do something, is itching to do anything that might be helpful, but he’s not even sure what he could do.

Eventually he drags himself off the couch and runs to his bedroom to grab his phone and as he’s running back to the living room he nearly collides with May who’s headed to the kitchen, completely unaware of the state of panic her nephew is in. “I’m just gonna make some popcorn then we can start on Empire, okay honey?”

Peter ignores her as he manoeuvres around her to go back and sit in front of the screen as he dials Ned’s number.

Ned picks up on the fifth ring- Peter counted- and answers trying to sound as casual as he can manage considering their friend’s life is danger as they speak. “Pete, h-hey now isn’t a good time. I’m just finishing off that History essay so can I call you back in-”

Peter has to interrupt him because he’s patiently put up with his friends’ lies for months and he’s reached his limit. “Have you called Pepper? Or Tony? Or any of the Avengers? Do you even have their numbers? Is anyone going to help her? What can we do?” He’s frantic as he fires off question after question relentlessly, not giving Ned the chance to even respond.

“What do you mean?” Ned attempts to feign ignorance but his voice goes up two octaves betraying his blatant lie.

“I  _know,_  Ned- I know that MJ is Spider-Man or Woman or whatever,” he says it much quieter this time, trying to ensure May doesn’t hear him over the sound of the microwave, popping corn and television.

“Peter I’m sorry I didn’t-”

Again Peter interjects because now isn’t the time, “Look, let’s not talk about that right now, okay? I’m watching the news right now; what can we do to help her? Have you called anyone?”

“I called Tony using the number MJ gave me and he said he was on his way to her but I don’t know how long he’ll be.”

Peter vaguely hears what Ned tells him but his attention is mostly focused on the TV where he sees MJ lying on the ground unmoving. Peter randomly notices the white bandage still secured around her thigh and his mind briefly flits to the moment on the rooftop that had occurred only the night before but now feels like a lifetime ago as he anxiously watches the Mac guy limp towards her lying form, likely about to deliver one final blow.

“Get up, MJ,” Peter whispers mostly to himself as he watches as he gets closer and closer to her.

Mac reaches her and Peter hangs up on Ned in his panic as he sits there frozen watching on but fortunately before Mac can hurt MJ anymore, Iron Man lands a few feet from the pair causing Mac to flee in panic.

Tony is more concerned with tending to MJ rather than going after Mac meaning he manages to slip away but Peter is more concerned for MJ’s well-being.

He watches as Iron Man carries MJ in the arms of his suit before flying off with her until the news cameras lose sight of them and when that happens Peter re-dials Ned but he doesn’t pick up which leaves him panicked all over again.

Peter gets up quickly and goes to the door to put his shoes on and he’s just tying up the shoelaces of his sneakers when May steps into the living room, a bowl of popcorn in her hand and a confused expression on her face. “Uh, where are we rushing off to then?”

Peter looks up at her, almost having forgotten she was here in his rush to leave. He finishes off tying his shoelaces before responding. “I’m just gonna quickly head to Ned’s, he- uh,” he pauses as he tries to come up with a lie; lying on the spot has always been his weakness, not that he’s ever had to do it much and especially not to May. “There was an accident with Spider-Man downtown and Ned’s uncle was hurt so Ned asked me to come.”

MJ would be impressed that Peter “can’ t tell a lie” Parker managed to come up with that off the top of his head and that thought reminds him-  _MJ_. “Ned’s family is stressing him out and he just wants someone with him. Please, May? I’ll be back before curfew, promise.”

May watches him for a moment, silently sizing him up, and Peter is scared after the bodega incident yesterday she might not want to let him out of her sight but she must notice the desperation underlying his pleading stare because she sighs dejectedly, “Okay fine, but if it’s dark out when you’re leaving call me to come and pick you up!”

“Love you!” Peter barely hears her words as he’s already running out of the apartment and barrelling down the stairs to get to Ned’s as quickly as he can.

 

* * *

 

 

He runs the entire way and is there in under ten minutes flat and ringing their doorbell before he’s even had the chance to properly catch his breath.

As he waits for someone to come and open the door he finally takes a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down and catch his breath before he’s faced with Ned’s family but he doesn’t get the chance to as Ned’s mom opens the door. “Oh, Peter hi sweetie. I thought Ned was meeting you at Michelle’s?”

Peter stutters momentarily but quickly recovers, “Oh I thought I’d drop by to pick Ned up because I wasn’t sure if he’d left yet.”

“You just missed him sweetie, he left about five minutes ago,” she says with a kind smile.

“Thank you so much Mrs Leeds,” Peter bids her farewell as he turns to run to MJ’s.

Again he runs all the way to MJ’s place- it’s highly unlikely that MJ will be there in the state that she’s in but maybe Ned told her parents something that might be of use to him so he carries on running despite the lactic acid building up in his muscles and the burning of his chest.

This time he pauses for a few moments a few feet away from MJ’s house to catch his breath before he knocks on her door because he doesn’t want to panic MJ’s parents if they haven’t been told anything.

Once he’s caught his breath he finally goes up to ring their doorbell and he only has to wait a few seconds before the door is opened by MJ’s mom.

“Peter, hi. I take it you saw the news about the accident downtown?” She asks kindly as she ushers him into the apartment before he can protest.

“Uh, yeah, yeah. I just wanted to check in,” he says, keeping his responses vague since he’s not sure what MJ’s mom thinks is going on here.

“Shelly was up at the Avengers compound on her internship today. Y’know she’s been interning in the superhero division of Stark Industries recently to because Ms. Potts wanted her to get an idea of how each division is run right?” She asks but the question feels rhetorical so Peter doesn’t respond and she carries on anyway, “Well, she was doing a couple of hours there today when all this business with Spider-Man happened so she texted us to say she’s staying at the compound a bit longer to see if she can help out in anyway.”

Peter is impressed at the lie, MJ must have set up contingencies to explain away almost any situation to her parents. “Oh okay. I just wanted to see if she knew anything about what’s going on with Spider-Man, sh-  _he_ ’s my favorite superhero.”

“Aw, isn’t that sweet?” the older woman says with a smile.

Peter feels defeated. Ned is nowhere to be found- likely having gone up to the compound somehow meaning his only source of information of what’s happening with MJ is gone. He doesn’t know what he can do at this point besides wait.

“You look a little flushed Peter, here,” Peter is snapped out of his thoughts by MJ’s mom who stands over him handing him a large glass of water as she looks at him with mild concern.

He accepts the water gratefully and sips it slowly whilst MJ’s mom and he make small talk about school and how him and May are doing nowadays with “everything” as time passes by.

Eventually Peter feels slightly uncomfortable. He knows there is nothing he can do but wait but he also can’t wait _here_. He’s worried sick for MJ’s wellbeing whilst her parents are none the wiser to what’s happening and it’s killing him to not be able to say anything to MJ’s mom every time she asks if he’s okay when she notices the anxiety rolling him off.

He feels awful that he’s been made part of this lie especially in a situation where MJ is off somewhere possibly dying, but most of all he feels helpless that there is nothing he can do besides wait. Wait for a phone call either saying she’s okay or-  _or_ …he doesn’t even want to think about that so he shakes the thought away.

He can’t be here right now so he makes some excuse about how worried May is and how he should be getting home before leaving the Jones’ place.

 

 

* * *

 

Soon he’s out on the street, aimlessly walking around MJ’s neighbourhood, delaying going back home for as long as he can until he eventually feels like he can’t stay out too much longer without worrying May given how abruptly he’d left to begin with so he starts heading back home.

He takes the scenic route home and walks at an agonisingly slow pace just so the journey takes him as long as possible and it’s as he’s walking that his phone rings. He jumps at the unexpected sound but quickly recovers to fish it out of his hoodie pocket before answering it without bothering to properly check the caller ID.

“Hey loser,” a familiar voice greets.

He stops mid-step where he is in shock. She sounds exhausted and weak even over the phone but that doesn’t matter to him right now because she’s alive.  _She’s alive_.

“Em,” is all he manages to breathe out, his words failing him in that moment.

“I feel like we, uh, we need to talk. I have so much to tell you,” her voice is so unsteady and unsure in a way that’s uncharacteristic of her.

“I know about Spider-Woman,” he blurts out before his brain has processed his words.

“I- I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before but I wanna tell you everything and explain it all to you. God,” she pauses and exhales loudly then it’s silent for a moment and Peter makes out the sound of a machine beeping in the background, it sounds like a hospital, as he waits for her to carry on. “I was- I  _am_  so scared Peter but I’ve lied to you for too long and I wanna tell you everything.”

Peter almost wants to laugh in disbelief at the fact that this is really happening. “I have so much to tell you too,” he admits quietly into the phone receiver, his voice barely above a whisper.

There’s something about almost losing someone you care about a great deal, and having hours of waiting for news where you could potentially find out you lost them that brings certain feelings to the forefront. Feelings that Peter feels like he can no longer keep at bay anymore, not when there’s a risk of a day like today happening again at some point, not when he could really lose her without ever getting the chance to confess those feelings to her.

MJ snorts at the other end of the line, bringing him out of his thoughts. “You can tell me all about it once Doctor Cho lets me leave this place tomorrow. Say…tomorrow evening after school?” She asks hesitantly, and he feels just as nervous as she probably does so he can’t judge her.

“As long as you don’t stand me up like you did on Saturday night,” he retorts.

MJ laughs at his words briefly before she starts wincing, “Ow, ow. Don’t make me laugh it still hurts.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Peter hurriedly apologises but he can’t help but feel an ounce of pride as he always does at having gotten MJ to laugh. He slowly starts walking again after having been stood on that one street corner for too long. It’s getting dark out and he should get home before May puts out a BOLO or something on him.

“Besides, I did drop by yours on Saturday night, remember? You stitched me up nicely, night nurse,” MJ teases.

“Shut up.”

She carries on her teasing, “I feel like med school is in the horizon for you, Parker. Although I don’t know about the ethics of schmoozing with your patients the way you were.”

“God, you’re so annoying. You’re lucky I love you- um,” he pauses to clear his throat when his words catch up to him. “I meant that in the platonic sense, from one friend to another. You know like the Greek term “philia” meaning brotherly love? Not that- not that I see you as a brother or a sibling or anything like that. I just meant I love you how I love Ned but also, not because obviously you and Ned are  _different_  so-”

“Hey, Peter?” MJ interrupts his rambling.

“Uh, yeah?”

“Shut up,” she says but there is no bite to her words at all, in fact it sounds kind of fond though his ears could be deceiving him.

“I can definitely do that.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

Neither of them say anything for a stretch of time as they just listen to the other person breathe on the other end of the line and it’s surprisingly comforting, at least for Peter, rather than awkward. But eventually MJ giggles, breaking the silence, “This is getting kinda weird now.”

“Yeah, probably,” Peter says but he can’t contain the wide grin on his face. He feels lighter and happier than he has in months. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll come over at-”

Peter doesn’t get to hear the rest of MJ’s words as an unknown figure rounds the corner of the adjacent street and before he knows it, he’s struck with something that glows blue that feels heavy and sort of metallic as it strikes his chest, winding him.

He’s launched a few feet across the sidewalk and he lands unceremoniously against the hard concrete. The last thing he registers before he’s knocked unconscious is the unknown man stomping on his abandoned cell phone to destroy it before making their way towards him.

Then all he sees is blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic has been on-going for way too long and I'm determined to wrap it up ASAP lol. So hope you enjoyed this latest chap and as always, comments and kudos are much appreciated!!!
> 
> You can find me on tumblr @tvfanatic97-2 and on twitter @tvfanatic97 x


	9. Chapter 9

 

Peter slowly stirs, feeling groggy and weak and his abdomen is sore from being punched.

He takes a deep breath in as he catalogues his surroundings and his sense of self. He first opens his eyes but he is enveloped in complete darkness, so dark that he can’t even see his surroundings, all he knows is that he’s lying on the hard ground.

Panic starts to rise within him as he starts to recall how he’d got here- the phone call, their plans to meet up and talk everything through, the man with the glow-y thing on his hand who’d been the last sight he saw before he passed out.

All his memories flood back to him which causes him to go into a full blown panic. He attempts to move his arms but finds that they are tied up in front of him, and he finds that his ankles are bound too when he tries to move his lower limbs.

His mouth doesn’t seem to be gagged though meaning he can at least use his voice. “Hello!” He starts screaming out when he realises he doesn’t have many options. “Somebody help me!"

Whatever room or space he’s in sounds expansive and empty if not completely abandoned, with his voice almost echoing as it bounces off the walls.

He tries to call for help again since it’s all he can do, “Hello! Someone help me please!”

All he hears in return is his voice travelling across the empty space, he can’t hear any sign of life with him, no help. He repeatedly keeps calling out, shouting, “Help!” at regular intervals for God knows how long, it could be minutes, it could be hours.

Eventually he starts to tire and lose hope that anyone is coming, there’s no cavalry coming to his rescue so his screams for help die down. He’s starting to lose his voice anyway and he’s so exhausted that he passes out again.

The next time he wakes up it’s with a bucket of ice cold water being thrown in his face so he wakes up gasping for air and spitting out the water that he accidentally swallowed when he opened his mouth in shock at the brutal wake up call.

He shakes the remaining droplets off water his face in an attempt to get the water out of his eyes without the use of his hands then finally opens his eyes. This time instead of complete darkness his eyes are met with glaring, bright lights all around him that allow him to see that he’s in the far corner of what appears to be an abandoned warehouse because-  _of course_ , of course his kidnapper has taken him to an abandoned warehouse.

From his position lying on the ground he tries to look around to see where the exits are, see if maybe there’s old equipment lying around or a phone or just anything that could be of use to him but he’s being too hopeful. His casing of the warehouse is interrupted by a man crouching down in front of his lying form thereby obscuring his view of the warehouse.

“Isn’t life strange?” Is the first thing the man says to him, his words laced with humour though Peter is failing to see what is so funny about any of this.

“Who are you?” Peter croaks out.

The man snorts at the question much to Peter’s frustration; there’s nothing remotely funny about the current situation. “I could ask you the same thing, kid.”

“Why the hell did you kidnap me if you don’t know who I am?”

“Like I said, life’s strange. I was at home minding my business, watching the news, y’know the usual. Then someone rings my doorbell and who do I find when I open the door?” The man’s tone is irritatingly chipper, like he’s telling a humorous story to an old friend.

There’s a stretch of time where the man doesn’t say anything, making Peter realise his last question wasn’t rhetorical and he’s expecting audience participation. “Who'd you find?” he sighs out.

“Why, my old buddy Mac-”

Peter’s blood runs cold with recognition, the man MJ was fighting earlier today (if it's still even today that is, he has no sense of time and doesn't know how long he's been tied up in this warehouse) was called Mac. Mac Gargoyle? Mac G-something. The realisation that this is related to MJ makes him feel sick.

Peter zones back into the guy’s story having missed a portion of it because when he stops thinking about MJ and focuses on the guy crouched in front of him he’s now saying, “...Mac is all “I need to get to Spider-Man somehow, lure him out of that damn Avengers compound” right? And I thought back to how I’d seen Spider-Man walking around with this little white boy on Saturday night and they seemed real cosy. An old buddy of mine stumbles into my home looking to hurt Spider-Man and I happen to have seen Spider-Man with someone he seemed to know and be comfortable around that we could use as bait to lure the little insect out. Isn't that strange?"

“What makes you think I’m close to Spider-Man or work with them?”

“I saw you two-”

Peter interjects to try and defend himself, “I was just helping them out because they saved my life in the bodega, I don’t even know who they are.”

“Oh I forgot to mention the best part of the story, silly me,” the man says shaking his head good-naturedly. “So obviously when I see Spider-Man and this kid I get curious because well, I thought Spider-Man works alone. Anyway, so I decide to follow them because in my line of work information about the people Spider-Man is close to can be _really_  valuable. I follow them to this apartment building and I see Spider-Man go up onto the roof so I sneak into the apartment building next door and go up onto the roof and I see them getting real nice and cosy. And I gotta say, it’s pretty cool that Spider-Man is into dudes, makes sense why he’s so welcome at Pride. Though you seem a little young...” He finishes off, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Peter.

Peter doesn’t know what to say. The pit of dread in his stomach sinks lower and sits heavy at the base. There is no way to pretend he doesn’t know Spider-Man if this man had watched him patch MJ up on the roof like he claims he did. “Like I said, I was just helping Spider-Man because they saved my life. I’m not close with them and they’re not gonna come out of the Avengers compound for me.” A small voice in the back of his head tells him that no one knows where he is and MJ might not even know that he's missing to come for him.

“I hope for your sake that’s not true,” The man says, reaching a hand forward to rub Peter’s shoulder almost soothingly before he stands up from his crouching position to take out his cell phone and make a call.

Peter zones out and doesn’t hear what the guy says to the person on the other end on the phone, instead trying to formulate a plan for how he could possibly steal the guy’s phone then call for help before he dismisses it when he remembers his hands and feet are bound. He feels hopeless.

“A friend has come to join our little soiree so I’m just gonna go let him in, don’t move,” he says with a sly wink before walking away.

The warehouse is so big that Peter loses sight of the guy and doesn’t see where he goes until he reappears with a man walking next to him that Peter immediately recognises as the Mac guy from his mugshot that was one the news- the man who’d almost killed MJ.

“This him?” Mac asks the other guy whose name Peter still doesn’t know.

“Yeah that’s Spider-Man’s boyfriend alright,” the other guy confirms. “Now we just gotta wait for Spider-Man to show up I guess.”

 

 

* * *

 

And wait they do.

Time drags on, the hours passing by painfully slowly and all Peter can do is continue to lie helplessly on the hard ground waiting for help that’s likely never gonna come. He feels pathetic that there’s nothing he can do, that he’d even gotten himself into this situation to begin with.

He resigns himself to this possibly being the end and whiles up the time by thinking back on his life like some kind of cliché. He also thinks about all the things he’ll miss- junior year, senior year, his high school graduation, Friday night movie nights with Ned and MJ, their picnic lunches, his Star Wars marathons with May, his conversation with MJ, the list goes on and on.

At some point his captors get bored of the waiting game and in frustration Mac walks over to kick Peter in the ribs, then he does it again…and again…before the other guy comes to pull him away from him.

“Jesus Mac, what the hell are you doing? This isn’t gonna make Spider-Man come any faster!”

Peter wheezes, his breath catching as he finds himself unable to breath with the sharp, intense pain that breaks out from his likely broken ribs.

“Yeah well, it helps while up the time,” Mac says, completely indifferent to Peter’s wheezing and cries of pain.

“Jesus,” the other guy swears as he crouches down in front of Peter. “Kid take it easy, don’t breathe so hard it’ll only make it hurt more. Take slower breaths.”

“What the hell are you doing Herman?” Mac asks the man incredulously. “We’re not doing some good cop, bad cop routine. Knock that shit off.”

“You need to calm down, Mac,” the guy whose name Peter now knows to be Herman tries to reason with the other rapidly spiralling man.

“I need to calm down? I need to-” He says angrily starting to walk back towards them. “I’ll show you  _calm_!” He says before pulling a gun out from the back of his pants which he points down at Peter.

Peter goes into a state of panic at the sight of the gun, at the thought that this could truly be it for him. Tears fall almost uncontrollably from him at the thought that May is gonna have to endure losing Ben and now him at the hands of criminal with guns.

“Tell us who Spider-Man is you little shit!” His voice cracks slightly as he shouts out his demand, dripping with unfurled anger and frustration. Peter notes how despite how growingly desperate the man is, the hand holding the gun at him remains steady like this isn’t his first rodeo which frightens Peter to his core.

“Mac-” Herman tries to reason again, standing up from his crouching position so he’s face-to-face with the other erratic man. “Mac you need to relax, Spider-Man will be here soon. The kid was on the phone to someone when I picked him up so someone will be looking for him and we put out word on the street to send a message to Spider-Man. Just trust me.”

“Or the kid could just tell us who he is right now. Or...maybe we hurt the kid, that’ll really send a message to Spider-Man,” he says coolly. He brings his other hand up so he’s now holding the gun with both hands, his stance steady and final.

Peter closes his eyes, preparing himself for what awaits.

He braces himself for what’s to come but when a shot rings out he doesn’t feel searing pain he’d expect to come with the impact of a bullet against skin. He hears both men swear and their feet shuffle away from him.

“Look who finally decided to join our little party,” Mac says sneeringly as he shoots out a few more times.

“I arrived fashionably late,” the familiar modified voice speaks out, though he can’t pinpoint where her voice is coming from as he still has his eyes screwed shut.

“Oh he got jokes, huh?” Herman asks out bemusedly before more shots ring out.

Then suddenly it goes quiet and he hears a thud of someone landing on the ground nearby.

“Looks like you used up all your bullets,” MJ says with a slight wince and her voice sounds much closer than she had before but still Peter refuses to open his eyes. “No bullets and no scorpion suit since I did a number on it. What a predicament you’re in,” she quips.

“You son of a-” Mac starts to say but he never finishes his sentence and all Peter hears is a the sickening crunch of bone followed by what sounds like him falling to the ground and only then does he open his eyes.

He finds MJ webbing up Mac who now lies immobile on the ground less than ten feet from where he is.

Immediately upon him opening his eyes, like she can sense that he’s watching her, MJ turns to look at him, “I kinda forgot my own strength there I didn’t mean to punch him so hard.” And though she’s wearing a mask he can hear the hint of a smile in her voice.

“Hey watch out!” Peter warns in a panic when he notices the Herman guy, having seemingly appeared from nowhere, now donning the weird metal contraption thing he vaguely remembers him wearing before when he’d taken him, the one that had thrown him several feet across the sidewalk when he was punched with it.

MJ reacts before he can even get his warning out but even then, it’s too late as Herman’s metal fist makes contact with MJ just as she’s going to jump up to dodge the impact and he has to watch helplessly as her body is flung across the warehouse, coming to slam forcefully against the wall near where he is. Bile rises up in his throat as he is reminded of her body being flung into a wall by Mac before and how she’d been unable to get up then and Mac had nearly killed her before Iron Man had shown up.

Fortunately this time MJ hops back up onto her feet almost straight away. “How do you still have that thing? I thought Damage Control took care of all the Toomes tech. Well, I guess that’s what I get for trusting a government agency to do their job.”

Herman swings his fist out again but this time MJ is quick enough to jump up and flip over him meaning the only thing he’s able to strike with his fist is the wall which starts to crumble.

Before Herman can re-group to turn around and try to hit MJ again she quickly webs up the metal thingy and snatches it off his hand then flings it across the warehouse to the opposite end. She then takes a few strides towards him and sucker punches him, knocking him out cold.

She webs him to the wall that hasn’t had a hole punched through it then webs Mac up on the same wall so the criminal pair are side-by-side, presented for the police.

Peter hears her telling someone called Karen to call the cops but he’s too distracted to pay attention to what she’s saying beyond that, too mesmerised by seeing her in action right in front of him. He’d seen her before at Delmar’s stopping the robbery but his view had been obscured by the shelf and the items on it whereas here he had a front row seat to seeing all the amazing things she’s capable of.

His breath is taken away by her- not that he needed to see her as Spider-Man for her to take his breath away. For as long as he’s known MJ she has continually amazed him, from when she’d verbally take down Flash or some other asshole picking on him in Middle School, to when she’d given a succinct well-formed argument against the inclusion of mostly white authors on the school curriculum to the head of their  English department, to even when she’d simply smirk bemusedly at him when he made a nerdy pun about electrons, trying to contain a laugh. And now she’s a superhero, something which he has long loved and admired just as he's done of MJ so the combination of MJ being a superhero is dizzying.

She is breath-taking, his best friend. Everything she does is amazing and he feels pride and warmth swell within him because of course such an amazing person like her would choose to help people out with her powers even though she was already helping people before she got them. New York is lucky that it has his amazing best friend protecting it. He’s lucky to have her.

He’s so grateful and he’s so in love. There’s no point denying it now.

“Are you hurt?” MJ asks, snapping him out his musings. She comes to crouch by him and he notices that she removed her mask at some point and he has to contain a smile at the wig cap she’s wearing; he had wondered how she stuffed her hair into that mask.

“I’m okay,” he tries to reassure her when he notices the concern and fear marring her features as she looks him over but a wince escapes when pain shoots out across his ribs at the movement of talking and MJ narrows her eyes at him as if to say "oh really".

She doesn’t chastise him like he thought she would, she just quietly works on removing the rope tied around his hands and ankles then she helps him to sit up so he’s leaning his back against the wall.

“I’m gonna swing you back to the compound. They have state of the art medical facilities there and you can be seen to straight away,” she informs him. Then more quietly, almost to herself, she adds, “The medical facilities I keep telling Tony it’s selfish of him to reserve only for the Avengers when he could dispense them out to the hospitals and clinics across the city that desperately need them. Fucking Tony.”

“MJ,” Peter says bemusedly to get her attention.

"Sorry," she says like she hadn't realised she had said her little rant out loud. Then she gets back to looking him over for any bruises or cuts in silence for a bit.

“It really scared me when your phone cut off and I couldn’t reach you,” she admits quietly after a while. “It took me way too long to find you and I felt so helpless and I kept thinking about how I was gonna fail yet another...” she doesn't finish her thought.

“MJ?” Peter asks, both confused about what she meant and concerned. She’s looking at the wall to the side of his face rather than directly at him and she has a distant, mournful and frightened look in her eyes. “I’m okay MJ,” he reassures, reaching a hand forward to rub her shoulder soothingly. “I’m okay thanks to you.”

MJ shakes her head, snapping out of her haze and without acknowledging his words starts to help him up onto his feet, “We should go before the cops get here. This isn’t gonna be that comfortable on your ribs but it’ll be quicker to swing to the meeting point where we’re meeting Happy then he’ll drive us the rest of the way, okay?”

“Okay,” he says evenly, completely trusting MJ.

Once MJ has put her mask back on they walk side by side, MJ’s arm carefully wrapped around his waist to support him, to outside the warehouse.

“Um,” MJ breathes out, sounding uncharacteristically nervous, “You’ll need to wrap your arms around me.”

“Like this?” Peter asks as he moves to secure his arms around her neck.

He has to get up onto his tip-toes slightly to make sure his arms are secure which MJ notices and she snorts at him, “Shorty.”

“Shut up,” Peter retorts trying to keep the tone light and ignore the way his heart thunders in his chest when MJ wraps the arm that was around his waist tighter and brings him closer to her.

Before he can freak out about how MJ can probably feel how rapidly his heart is beating they launch up into the air and that is the exact moment Peter remembers his slight fear of heights. “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.”

“It’s a rush isn’t it?” MJ asks with a slight laugh.

“That’s one way to put it,” Peter says, feeling queasy when he catches sight of just how high up they are.

He screws his eyes shut and wraps his arms tighter around MJ as they swing through the city, the wind sweeping at his face.

After what feels like an eternity in Peter’s opinion, they eventually land on the ground on the outskirts of the city near a parked black SUV which MJ ushers him into then they drive upstate.

 

* * *

 

Peter doesn’t get the chance to freak out about the fact that he is at the Avengers compound-  _the Avengers_ \- nor does he get to marvel at all the advanced technology he sees all around him as he is immediately taken to the medical wing before he can even blink.

He’s luckily not too injured, so the in-house doctor just cleans a few cuts he’s sustained and wraps his ribs which a chest X-ray confirm are only bruised rather than broken then gives him painkillers stronger than regular aspirin but not quite morphine-level strong as to make him loopy. And he fortunately but also unfortunately because it's the Avengers compound, doesn’t have to spend the night here.

The doctor gives him instructions on how to take his pain meds then leaves him alone with MJ in the med bay whilst they wait for May to come and pick him up.

He’s on the bed and MJ is in a chair in the corner of the room and they stay like that in a terse silence for a while. Eventually Peter feels like he has to break it, “Thank you for saving me, MJ.”

MJ doesn’t say anything in return, and instead continues to look ahead at the floor in front of her.

“The whole Spider-Woman thing is pretty cool,” he tries again.

“I don’t know if it’s all that cool,” she answers, completely non-committal.

Peter almost wants to laugh because of course MJ still retains her apathetic nature about everything, even about getting superpowers. He loves her so much. “You get to help people- I mean you already were even before all this with your volunteering work and everything. But now you get to help even more people and in a different capacity. It’s pretty cool MJ.”

MJ doesn’t say anything and continues to watch the floor, refusing to look up and meet his eyes.

“You save lives, MJ,” Peter repeats, more insistent to grab her attention.

Finally that gets a reaction out of her and she looks up at him, and he doesn’t miss the way her eyes shine with unshed tears. “I don’t save lives though, do I?” She says and her voice is tinged with so much anguish that he wants to give her a hug.

In fact, he starts to move to get off the bed so he can go to her and hug her like he desperately wants to but MJ notices his movements and stops him, “ _Don’t_ , Peter.”

Peter sags back against the bed, slightly disappointed because he wants to comfort her but also being respectful of her boundaries.

“You  _do_  save lives, you saved mine,” Peter tells her quietly.

“You were in that position because of me!” she bursts out and Peter is almost taken aback by the volume and intensity at which she says it since he’s never knwn MJ to raise her voice over the last decade they’ve been friends.

“You’re not the one who kidnapped me, and it’s not like you can control what criminals are gonna do and account for every variable. You’re a human being- a super-powered, incredibly intelligent and resilient human being- but a human being all the same. You can’t blame yourself for everything,” Peter says it firmly, trying to ensure his words get through to her because she has the same distant look she’s had since she found him in that warehouse and he just knows she’s blaming herself.

“I don’t know why you think I’m a good person. How can you continue to defend me and look out for me even after everything?” she says much quieter this time.

Peter snorts humorlessly wondering why she thinks herself unworthy of his love and support. “Is this about you not telling me you were Spider-Woman? Because I’m past that now. It hurt but I’ve worked through it in therapy and honestly I get that you didn’t tell me to protect me, MJ. You’re my best friend and I love you, that’s all that matters.”

“You wouldn’t if you knew,” she breathes out and it’s barely audible, Peter has to strain to hear her.

“Knew what?” Peter is so confused.

“If you knew about Ben,” she says just as quietly.

Peter freezes at the name, and a sense of dread starts to build. “What do you mean if I knew about Ben?”

MJ looks up at him and at this point there are tears streaming down her face that she doesn’t bother to wipe them away. “I killed Ben, Peter.”

“W-what?” Peter isn’t sure what’s happening, whether this is some kind of sick joke or a nightmare.

“On the night he died I was out on a walk,” she sniffles and tries to catch herself before she breaks out into full sobs. “I’d told my parents I’m bi and my mum made some insensitive comment about how it was just “a phase” and I got so angry that I ran away. I didn't go anywhere in particular, I just walked around by myself to clear my head. Then I heard a commotion in an alleyway I was walking past and I looked around the corner and I saw this guy with a gun and- and Ben. I couldn’t hear them properly but Ben was trying to reason with the guy, to offer to take him to get food and he even offered him a place to sleep but the guy was desperate and Ben wasn’t doing what he wanted him to so he just- he just-”

She doesn’t say the words but Peter just knows. He knows what came next: police knocking at his door in the middle of the night and delivering bad news to his aunt who’d sobbed whilst the two uniformed officers tried to comfort her as he'd watched on confused and frozen in fear trying to wake himself up from the nightmare. He knows that what followed were sleepless nights spent crying to himself or listening to his aunt cry the other side of the wall by his bed.  _He knows_.

MJ is fully sobbing now and he realises that he’s also crying when he feels wetness against his cheek. “That’s not your fault MJ, that’s a scary thing to see. The other night at Delmar’s I froze when that man had a gun pointed at Mr Delmar and I panicked and didn’t know what to do. I couldn't even call the police,” he admits ashamedly to reassure her, to show her that as painful as it is to hear that she was there- he gets it.

“No you don’t understand,” she says between sobs. “I wasn’t some helpless kid, I had my powers and yet I stood back cowering in the corner instead of actually doing something. Ben is dead because of me.”

“MJ-” Peter tries to stop her because he can feel himself getting breathless, his palms getting clammy, his heart starting to race and he just wants her to stop.

“I killed him, Peter,” she keeps saying over and over again between sobs but her voice sounds distant to the ringing in his ears.

“Stop. Stop saying that."

“It’s my fault,” she repeats.

Peter’s breath comes in quick pants as he shakes his head over and over again, willing this to end but it doesn't work. He clutches his chest as it only gets worse and he distantly thinks about how they might need to call the doctor to come back because he feels like he’s having a heart attack.

He can’t breathe, he can’t speak and he can’t see and it’s worsening but he’s brought back into the room by a gentle hand on his shoulder, “It’s okay Peter, just breathe with me, okay?”

The sound of his aunt’s soothing voice and comforting touch brings him out of the worst of it but he still feels his chest constricting and he hasn’t found his voice again.

“Hey Pete? Let’s do those grounding exercises Dr Okafor took you through. Do you think you can do that for me?”

He nods wordlessly and starts to take stock of everything in the room over and over again, helping to ground him until he feels more like himself again. May just rubs a soothing hand across his shoulder the entire time.

“I’m good, I’m okay,” he reassures May, moving a hand to rest over hers which is still on his shoulder to reassure her.

“Okay, are you ready to go home now?”

“Y- yeah,” he says and his eyes automatically flit to the corner where he sees MJ still sitting in that uncomfortable looking chair, barely able to meet his eye.

May helps him out of the bed and helps him put the hoodie and sweatpants she brought from home over the hospital gown he doesn’t bother to change out of because he’s too lazy. He puts on the slides she hands to him then they start to make their way out of the room.

He looks to the corner of the room one final time to find MJ now looking wistfully at him, the remnants of tears still shining in her eyes.

He gives her a small nod the turns to leave the room just behind his aunt, the door closing behind him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter! As always, comments and kudos are much appreciated :)
> 
> Find me on tumblr @tvfanatic97-2 and on twitter @tvfanatic97 x

**Author's Note:**

> Here's an AU I'd been working on but hadn't intended to post till much later whilst my laptop is fixed and I try to recover 'Unmasked'. Writing from Peter's POV is weird for me but I hope it comes off okay and also I know the title is shit pls send me suggestions lol. Anyway hope you enjoy and as always, feedback is much appreciated!!  
> Find me @tvfanatic97-2 on tumblr and @tvfanatic97 on twitter x


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